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PATRICK 


O Monighan ; 


OR, 


The Hidden Treasure of Old Uzarro, 


r 


BY 


GEO. A. KIRKLAND, Esq. 




[' jWo.JAkl.k. IP 

1880 P// 

I OF V/Ac 

TOPEKA, KANSAS : 

GEO. S. IRWIN, PRINTER AND BINDER. 
l88o. 

■ ; - * In < 1 i ‘ ' ' 


9r 





'< 


■o 




t? 


Entered “according to Acrof [Congress, in the year 1879, by 
GEO. A. KIRKLAND, 

in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 


\ 

I 

V 


CONTENTS. 


Page. 

Chapter I. — Patrick O’Monighan’s Expedition to Mexico 
— Old Uzarro — The Hidden Treasure of Old 
Uzarro — Jacob Jonah the Louisiana Overseer. i 

Chap. II. — Jacob Jonah in the Whale’s Belly — His 
Whale-rib Spear — The Old Polar Bear — His 
Polar Bear Robe. . . . , . 15 

Chap. Ill, — Winter in the Whale’s Belly — The Polar 
Storm---The Banjo — The Summer Residence 
— The Invincible Armada. . . . 22 

Chap. IV. — The Dispersion of the Invincible Armada — 

The Naval Battle — The Sharks — The Stem- 
matopus. ...... 30 

Chap. V. — The Birds — The Sea Monster — Battle with 

the Sea Devil. . 4° 

Chap. VI. — The Birds in Possession of Jonah s Winter 
Residence — The, Birds Attack Jonah — Jonah 
Beheads the Birds with his Whale-rib Spear 
— Jonah’s Polar Pets . . . .50 

Chap. VII. — The Colors of the Birds — The Value of their 
Plumes — Jonah Ornaments the Whale’s Belly 
with the Plumes — The Polar Hurricane. . 61 

Chap. VIII. — Jonah names his Polar Pets — He calls one 
Walrus, the other Seal— His Polar-bear-o-net 
— The Volcano .69 

Chap. IX. —Jonah and his Polar Pets, Walrus and Seal, 

make many long, perilous, prospecting Tours 75 

Chap. X. — The third Winter that Jonah lives in the old 
Whale’s Belly comes on and bears as its fruit 
Ten Thousand Horrors 80 

Chap. XI. —The Sea Animals try to gnaw through the 
floor of Jonah’s House — Jonah Discovers a 
Boat frozen up in the floor of his House. . 87 

Chap. XII, —Jonah Scares off the Intruders with lighted 
Fagots— He sets forth in search of the North 
Pole . . • - • * *9* 

Chap. XIII— Jonah Discovers a Land Inhabited with Little 

Brown People— He Calls it Diamond Land. 97 


CONTENTS ( Continued .) 


Chap. XIV — Walrus and Seal kill two Little Brown Men 
— Jonah sets out for the North Pole — He dis- 
covers a Boiling Sea. . . . .103 

Chap. XV — Jonah Explores the Shores of the Boiling Sea 
— The Hot Water Monsters — Jonah returns 
to Bergen, in Norway— Then to Boston. . 109 

Chap, XVI — Jacob Jonah in 'the Wild West — Thomas Jef- 
ferson Tobias. . . . . . 116 


Chap, XVII — The Corn-husking and Quilting Frolic — 

The Lump of Clay. . . . . 122 

Chap. XVIII — The Meeting-house Ghost. . . .129 

Chap. XIX — The Haunted Meeting-house and the Meeting- 
house Ghost — The Mississippi River Invigora- 
tor — The Burning of Major Washington Bea- 
ver’s Barn 141 

Chap. XX — The Mass-meeting — Speech of Tobias — Jo- 
nah runs away from the Mob. . . 152 

Chap. XXI — Witherman and Goodlove run away from the 

Mob — The Arkansas Gladiator. . . 166 


Chap. XXII — Jonah in the Wilderness — Prince Martino. 

Chap. XXIII — Jonah and Bob Day — Harry Crow — Wild 
Jake of the Woods — Deborah Day. 

Chap. XXIV — Deborah Day — The Death of Prince Marti- 
no — The Red Nomadians. 

Chap. XXV — Wild Jake of the Woods sets out for Mexico 
His Gun bursts — His Mule is destroyed by 
wild Beasts — The Wild-cats. 

Chap. XXVI— Wild Jake’s Battle with the Wolves. . 

Chap. XXVII— Wild Jake is Captured by the Red Noma- 
dians. .... 


179 

189 

199 


205 

212 

216 


Chap. XXVIII— Timothy O’Mulloon— Mary Deal. . 

Chap. XXIX— Story of Timothy O’Mulloon. 

Chap. XXX — Story of Timothy O’Mulloon. 

Chap. XXXI — Big Dog’s Dream. .... 

Chap. XXXII— Jacob Jonah alias Wild Jake of the Woods 
is adopted by the Red Nomadians under the 
name of Wild Horse 

Chap. XXXIII — Wild Horse and Red Bud. 

Chap. XXXIV — Wild Horse becomes Ambitious, and Vis- 
its Sour Heels. 


224 

230 

236 

241 


244 

35i 

251 


CONTENTS ( Continued .) 


Chap. XXXV — Mad Bull — The Siege. . . 255 

Chap. XXXVI — Death of Sour Heels. . . .260 

Chap. XXXVII — The Old Grizzly Bear. . . 264 

Chap. XXXVIII — The Palace of the Dead. . . 267 

Chap. XXXIX. — The Battle of the Spooks. . . 270 

Chap. XL — The Fall of Big Dog — The Loss of Red Bud. 274 

Chap. XLI— Jacob Jonah, alias Wild Jake of the Woods, 
alias Wild Horse, returns to New York — 

He Volunteers in a Lost Treasure Company. 277 

Chap. XLII — Fernando Crepo, the Pilot — The Sea Serpent. 281 
Chap. XLIII — Fernando Crepo Leaps into the Sea. . 286 

Chap. XLIV — The Secret of the Hidden Treasure of Old 

Uzarro is Lost. . . . 289 

Chap. XLV — The El Dorado is Beached on a Coral Island. 292 

Chap. XLVI — Captain John Smith — His Cheerful Char- 
acter — The Malays Spear all the Crew but 
Jonah. ....... 297 

Chap. XLVII — Missionaries Visit the Wrecked El Dorado. 301 

Chap. XL VIII — The Missionaries Prove to be Witherman 

and Goodlove 306 

Chap. XLIX — The Malays Return and Burn the El Dorado 

— Jonah is Picked Up by the Morning Star. 309 

Chap. L — Colonel Napoleon Nicholas. . . . 314 

Chap. LI — Patrick O’Monighan Concludes his Story by 

giving some Account of Himself. . 317 

Chap. LVII — Story of Patrick O’Monighan — His Father 
Dies in New York — Dennis Moran Absconds 
with his Father’s Estate. . . . 321 

Chap. LIII — More about Patrick O’Monighan — The Con- 
federate Army — His False Imprisonment. 327 

Chap. LIV — More about Patrick O’Monighan — His way of 
Life — His Unpublished Manuscripts — His 
Buried Vault 335 


PREFACE. 


P ATRICK O’MONIGHA N, or The Hidden Treasure of 
Old Uzzarro,” is yet in the rough. This Edition was 
printed to get a proof of the manuscript form of the Story. 
I have had a few extra copies printed for my friends. 

PATRICK O’MONIGHAN. 

In the Dominion of the Queen, 

Montreal, March 17th, 1880. 


Patrick O’Monighan, 

OR 

The Hidden Treasure of Old Uzarro. 


CHAPTER I. 

Patrick O’Monighan sets out to look after the Hidden 
Treasure of his Ancestor, Old Uzarro, — is Shipwrecked 
and Miraculously Discovers his Long Lost Uncle, 
Jacob Jonah. 

P ATRICK O’MONIGHAN may appear as a dry literary 
fountain to those that are looking for heroic names on the 
monuments, or in the memorial writings of New England. For 
I can not boast of a Puritan ancestor whose chief aim in rearing 
his son was to teach him how to declaim the virtues of the gen- 
teel, but illiberal class, that imagine the human race first found 
freedom and safe-footing on Plymouth Rock. 

So I will not endeavor to trace my descent to any aristocratic 
Mayflower ancestor. My first fore- father of which I have the 
family legend was a native of the South of Ireland. The misty 
legend that I have of him I admit is somewhat worn and fairy, 
and would not, in all probability, gain sufficient credence in a 


PATRICK O'MONICHAN, OR 


Western court to carry the jury. This much is, however, certain 
— or rather I am willing to believe, that his name was Monogyne, 
or O’Monighan, and that he emigrated from Spain soon after one 
of the early wild Irish rebellions. The legend does not state what 
sent him away; and even if it were to tell all about his affairs, it 
might leave a cloud on the name of his lineal descendants, in 
the event of their being urged for political preferment by the 
friends of the O’Monighan family in America, so it is just as 
well, no doubt, for the descendants of the early O’Monighan 
that the latter end of his life can not be traced. There was a 
story afloat that an old executioner’s diary showed how the early 
O’Monighan made his exit. But that story was not supported 
by very respectable chroniclers, and was generally believed by 
the friends of the O’Monighan family, to be a fabrication in- 
vented by enemies to cast odium on a famous name. 

But I will not worry about the worldly affairs of my old an- 
cestor, and will endeavor to build my story of the simple ma- 
terials that I have within my reach, the most of which you will 
soon observe, is furnished from the record of my own memory 
of the life and remarkable exploits of my uncle, Jacob Jonah. 

It will not, I hope, be considered out of place here to note 
that the repeated transplant! ngs of the O’Monighan’s in Spain 
and America, seemed to improve the stock in both manners and 
constitution. But I must here cease to write of O’Monighan 
traditions, and take up the thread of my story. 

The name of one of my ancestors, in the maternal line, was 
Uzarro. His memory was kept fresh and green, on account of 
the peculiar circumstances that invested it. He was known 
to his descendants for many generations before me as “ Old 
Uzarro,” and when his descendants in my time had occasion to 
speak of our ancient ancestor, they would refer to him as “ Old 
Uzarro,” or “our ancient ancestor, Old Uzarro.” He was 
one of the invaders under Cortez, and left a hidden treasure in 
the earth of Mexico. 

This hidden treasure constituted the bulk of the wealth of 
the descendants of “ Old Uzarro,” for many generations before 

N f 




THE HIDDEN TREASURE OP OLD UZARRO. 3 

my time. And I am given to believe that it answered the pur- 
poses of wealth well enough. 

When the descendants of “ Old Uzarro ” had occasion to 
speak of his buried wealth, they would refer to it as “ the hid- 
den treasure of Old Uzarro,” “ Old Uzarro’s buried camp ket- 
tie/ “Old Uzarro’s gold,” “Old Uzarro’s mystery,” or as 
“ our h dden wealth,” and so on under these various phrases was 
the wealth of my ancient ancestor referred to. 

After I grew up to the estate of physical power sufficient to 
endure the hardships of a journey to Mexico, I set out, under the 
name of Patrick Uzarro, to look after the long lost treasure. 

My reasons for changing my name were these : In the first 
place I thought I would be less liable to collision with the Mex- 
ican authorities by sailing under Mexican colors. That is, as- 
suming a name at which the most fastidious Mexican could take 
no offence. And in the next place I knew nothing of the pop- 
ularity of the O’Monighans in Mexico, and did not want to be 
embarrassed by taking any chances. And, as a last measure, I 
thought that the name of Uzarro might be of legal advantage to 
me in the event that the Mexican authorities should discover my 
secret and seize the hidden treasure, for in the name of Uzarro 
I would have a link in the chain of evidence by which 1 could 
trace my descent and heir-ship to my old ancestor, and have in 
the name a shield that would protect me in case I should be 
arrested and thrown into prison as a free-booter for filibustering 
on Mexican soil. 

My fore fathers, as far back as there is any legend to tell, 
were seamen, till the days of my own dear father, who married 
and quit the sea when quite a young man, and was a plain, but 
well-to-do New York farmer, of the name of Dennis O’Moni- 
ghan. His unpretentious, but comfortable abode, over-looked 
the river Hudson and was distant about a three days’ journey on 
horseback from the city of New York. My father was content 
with his own lot. The quiet a id serene life of a farmer was 
enough to satisfy his honest ambition. But while he cared so 
little about the hollow political and professional shams that so 


4 


PATRICK O' MONIGHA N, OR 


many strive to obtain, he was ambitious and enthusiastic about 
my worldly promotion. He gave me the best instruction that 
his means would allow. He attended all our school exhibitions 
when I performed, to hear me declaim, and flattered himself with 
the thought that my oratorical pinions would some day carry 
me to a pinnacle of fame, even above the first rank of public 
speakers. He allowed me to choose my own vocation, thinking 
that it would be the proper time to embark in professional pur- 
suits when I would have secured the hidden estate of “Old 
Uzarro,” 

Many of our neighbors were old men that had spent their 
youth at sea, and they had a passion for talking about lost 
treasures. They thought that the sea retained all that was 
worth having. To them the Tomtom of the deep was. an El Do- 
rado, studded with the gems <- id diadems that belong to the 
golden age of Kings. 

When these treasure-topics were talked over at our fire-side, 
my father would often mention the treasure of “ Old Uzarro,” 
and in his fatherly pride and enthusiasm, remark that his son 
Pat. was smart, and would soon be old enough to solve the diffi- 
culties that secreted “Old Uzarro’s gold.” He accordingly 
matured his plans for my departure as soon as I arrived at the 
age of manhood. 

We had some distant relatives living in Western Pennsylvania 
and my father thought that after I had helped him through with 
the bulk of the fall work, that he and I would pay them a visit. 
And having pleased our kindred with our love and social feel- 
ings, we would then proceed to the city of Pittsburg, from 
whence I would take shipping and sail by river to New Orleans, 
and from thence to the field of my gold operations in Mexico. 
And on my return I was to land in the city of New York by 
' ocean-ship. So about the middle of November, A. D., 1849, 
every arrangement had been made for our departure for Western 
Pennsylvania. I had attained the age of legal manhood some 
days before, and my father thought further delay unnecessary. 

Here let it suffice for the purpose of my story to remark that 


\ 


I 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 5 

we arrived in due course of time at the city of Pittsburg. 
Before the departure of the boat, my father gave me much good 
and wholesome advice in regard to prudence and frugality, and 
strictly charged me to be reticent in regard to the responsibility 
of my expedition. Everything and everybody was new to me. 
This was my first trial out in the world, and I found it very hard 
to keep the object of my expedition out of the news, for it 
seemed that every one was determined to find out all about my 
past, as well as future prospects. But after all I was able to keep 
my ambitious aim a secret. 

I was often amused at what I saw on the boat, and I had 
much to admire in the beautiful scenery along the river banks. 
Everybody seemed happy as we glided on to our sad, unfortunate 
end. The poor consumptive invalids, that were going South to 
winter their diseases, seemed to rejoice with the surroundings. 
The floating life on the boat seemed tcrheal their old coughs 
and sores, and all went well till the boat reached a point some 
miles ■’above the city of Baton Rouge, where, from a cause that 
was never discovered, the boat sprang aleak, which caused her 
to fill, capsize and sink. Before the boat sprang aleak and went 
down, I had musingly sat down and pulled an old Arkansas 
hunting-knife, that had been a keepsake in our family, from its 
scabbard, and involuntarily sighed at the thought of its old fa- 
miliar place in the cupboard of my father. For I knew that my 
father would often thoughtlessly ach for it, and then sigh as he 
thought of me far on my way to my gold prospects in Mexico. 
When the boat sprang aleak and fear seized all, I carefully 
secured the Arkansas hunting-knife in its scabbard. I was de- 
termined that the dear old keepsake should not be numbered 
with the lost. There was no time to look after baggage or 
friends. The boat was fast sinking and I thought that the safest 
way out of the difficulty and to secure a survivorship was to 
jump overboard and trust to my skill as a swimmer. So over I 
went into the river, leaving all my personal chattels behind sink- 
ing down with the boat, save the clothes that I wore and my 
Arkansas hunting-knife. I should have liked very much to have 


6 


PATRICK O'MOA/GHAN, OR 


been of service to some of the sufferers, but my stong natural 
proclivities, which are so well developed in me, led me to pull 
for shore first, and afterwards, if I had any time to spare, I 
thought I would charitably help others. I reached shore in tol- 
erably fair condition, considering the harrassing circumstances 
that had pressed me. Some of the passengers and crew were 
saved by assistance that arrived in time, but most on board per- 
ished, as the account of the disaster afterwards revealed. 

So there I was on the west bank of the Mississippi, without 
any baggage or means of operation. It was about two of the clock 
in the afternoon when I reached shore. The sinking of the boat 
had been witnessed by some of the negro population from their 
huts near the river, and when I swam to land I was surrounded 
and witnessed as a marvelous specimen of the curious. And I 
was indeed, no doubt, the best show for the negroes that had 
appeared on the plantation for some time, and strange enough 
to be looked at by those unused to such watery exhibitions. The 
poor, wonder-struck darkies gathered around me and began to 
interrogate me in regard to my business. I was young and fa- 
miliar, but shrewd enough to give out to them shams that hid 
my expedition to Mexico. 

An overseer got wind of my arrival, and came to view me with 
a jealous and suspicious eye. He told me in his plain, southern 
way, that he was afraid, when one of his trusty darkies told him 
that a man of peculiar and wild mien had swam ashore, that I 
was some seditious Yankee school teacher, that had used the 
swimming ruse to get up an excitement, gain the darky ear and 
cause rebellion aud blood -shed. He even searched my clothes 
to find, as he expressed it in his jocular way, “ Webster’s spell- 
ing book.” But to his annoyance and consternation he found 
my Arkansas hunting-knife. When the overseer saw the knife 
he misconstrued its innocent employment, for he recoiled from 
me and stood aghast, with an expression on his face that as much 
as said, “ you are a youth of some experience and mettle.” 

To regard me as a desperate character at that time in my life 
would cause me much tremor. I would rather be regarded as a 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 


7 


gentleman’s son and stand on my good breeding and suave man- 
ners. I had not at that time learned what the world calls smart 
and witty. I suppose in the eyes of the average worldling, I was 
at that time very verdant. I told the overseer the innocent em- 
ployment that the knife had been engaged in since I had left my 
father’s homestead. I told him it had been an old table-knife 
and keepsake in our family, and how my father had insisted on 
my taking it with me as a refinery for my dried beef and cheese, 
with which my provision chest was well stored. I went on to 
enumerate the events in the history of the Arkansas-hunting- 
knife, in my innocent and youthful way. I told the overseer 
that it had been made a present to my father a good many years 
before by a relative of my father’s family, and that the donor, 
according to family history, had been a wild and reckless youth, 
and that in one of his expeditions to the wild west, he had 
brought the knife home, as a specimen of frontier defense against 
the incursions of the lawless on the frontier of the Arkansas Ter- 
ritory. And that full twenty years or more ago the donor had 
gone to sea, and my father’s family heard no more of him, and 
supposed that he was lost on one of the ships that sailed from 
New York' about that time and never reported, or was heard 
from again. 

After I had talked in this strain for some time, the mind 
of the. overseer seemed to be soothed and I thought he evinced 
some sympathy for me. However that may have been, he had 
convinced himself that I was not too dangerous a character to 
admit into a negro hut. He told his darkies to take me to a hut 
standing back from the river some distance, and there give me 
an old darky suit till my own clothes were stretched before the 
fire-place and dried. Whilst the overseer gave orders to his 
darkies how to treat me and turned me over to their charge, yet 
he did not wholly abandon me to them. Soon after 1 had 
entered the negro hut, and whilst I was sitting back from a large 
open fire-place, watching my clothes dry before the fire, the 
overseer came in and pulled a flask containing brandy out of a 
side pocket and offered it to me, saying, as he handed it to me. 


PATRICK O' MO NIG HAN, OR 


that it would prevent my becoming water-soaked. I felt mel- 
ancholly over my shipwreck, as I had lost pretty much all the 
supplies that I had taken with me for my journey. My purse 
and contents went down in my carpet-bag with the boat. A 
rough estimate of my loss in dried beef and cheese, that went 
down in my provision chest, might be figured at one hundred 
and fifty pounds. These different influences were brought to 
bear on my mind, when I put the flask to my lips, and I took a 
pretty stiff draught, and soon became stimulated under the 
warm ministration of the brandy and felt very much like telling 
the overseer something about the most remarkable sights and 
things on my father’s plantation. Just then I ronsidered my 
expedition to Mexico frustrated but for a short time, and expec- 
ted, that if I could keep my health, that I would be able to en- 
gage myself to some planter at fair wages, and in a few months 
resume my journey and put myself in possession of “ the hidden 
treasure of Old Uzarro,”' which Was buried, as seamen had pic- 
tured it, “in a good sized camp kettle.” And under this in- 
fluence I thought it well to keep quiet and give no clue to my 
designs by making my real or alias name known to the world. 
So I determined to baffle the questions of the overseer, should 
he attempt to disturb my antecedents. But the brandy that I 
had taken, began to course through my nerves and brain, and 
take possession of my caution, and wholly undo me for my secret 
work. I began to feel bold and incautious, and felt as though 
the overseer ought to know something about the important per- 
sonage that he had the honor to entertain. But I kept my bal- 
ance all right till the overseer began to dig up my family history 
by asking questions that appeared to me as very impertinent. 
And the overseer, seeing that the brandy had begun to take sway 
over me, laid his questions under such a cunning guise that I 
was completely thrown off my equilibrium. But I would have 
passed without discovery, had it not been for quoting some of my 
father’s remarks, which I considered standard maxims of wisdom. 
And had I not referred to my father, it would not now be worth 
while to narrate the adventures of the overseer and myself. But 


• \ 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. g 

after I had told him about so many things that were dear to me 
on the old place at home, often making tender references to my 
father and the familiar scenes on the river Hudson, old memories 
revived in the mind of the overseer, and it somehow came into 
his mind to inquire of me the name of my father. 

I had already become very familiar with my entertainer, and 
was trying to make myself intelligent and agreeable. But when 
the overseer inquired the name of my father, it somewhat stag- 
gered me, for as I have told you, my desire was to reach Mexico, 
if possible, without any public ado, and unravel the mystery of 
my old ancestor. So when he inquired the name of my father, 
I tried to cough and spit, and to turn his mind into some other 
channel. I wondered what chance there would be for me to get 
work, and used various exclamations to consume time and get 
his mind off the mark in question. But the second time he in- 
quired plainly and directly the name of my father. Not being an 
expert in cunning, as you will observe, I blushed and answered : 

“ Dennis O’Monighan,” and I added in the same breath, 
“ I am his only son Pat,” 

I did this without thinking, but in an impulse. A.nd I may 
here remark that Patrick had been a popular name among my 
ancestors ever since the expatriated Irish rebel planted the 
O’Monighans in Spain. 

Captain Jacob Jonah, for that was the overseer’s name, was 
a man not liable to be carried off by the excitements of “ land 
terrapins,” as he would contemptuously call the dry-land and 
feather-bed heroes of his day. For, he prided himself on his 
own exploits on land and sea, and when any brave action was 
mentioned, he would sneeringly quote from his. own personal 
war history, which was voluminous indeed. He would some- 
times mention the battle of the Spooks, at which he defeated the 
Black-Feet and Crow Indians. Then he would give the promi- 
nent points of his battle against the wolves, when on the frontier, 
and he would dwell for hours on his expedition to the North 
Pole, drawn by his two Polar pets, Walrus and Seal. Sometimes 
he would grow emotional and grave when he would think of 


to 


PA TICK O' MO NIG HAN, OK 


Parson Witherman and Elder Goodlove, and “ the meeting- 
house ghost,” and “ the haunted meeting-house.” And again 
he would give some interesting account of his shipwreck and 
cast -away condition when the El Dorado, the lost treasure ship, 
was beached on a coral island, when' on an expedition to the 
China Sea. And time could never efface the affection he had 
for Timothy O’Mulloon, the broad-faced nomadian of the desert. 
All of which will hereafter receive due note.' 

When the name of my father, Dennis O’Monighan, felhon 
his ear, it seemed to dumbfound and confuse him to such a de- 
gree that he could not utter a word, and when he did gain sufficient 
composure of mind to speak, he could but move his head up and 
down in a meditative mood and repeat again and again, “ Den- 
nis O’ Monighan,' Dennis O’Monighan.” But when he did re- 
sume the conversation, he gave me a surprise equl to the one 
that I had given him in revealing my father’s name, for he began 
by telling me that he was familiar with the scenes on the river 
Hudson, which I had so tenderly described, for they were the 
joy of his youth and early manhood. These old memories 
reached his heart and sad tears stole down a face that was hard- 
ened by the troubles of half a century. 

The overseer then remarked that his only sister, Martha To- 
nah, married one Dennis O’Monighan, some thirty years before. 
The overseer now began to call up past and time buried mem- 
ories. He said that he was the wild young man of whom I had 
spoken. That he retnrned from the wild West in the fall of A. 
D. 1828, and gave my father the Arkansas hunting-knife as a 
keepsake, and if I chose to examine it near the hilt, I would 
find his frontier name. So I scraped away the dried beef and 
cheese and there, sure enough, in undimmed letters protected by 
the hilt was the name “ Wild Jake of the Woods.” This was 
the title that he won and received when on the fronticjr of the 
Arkansas Territory. The overseer told me that soon after his 
return to New York from the wild West, his sister died and left 
O’Monighan alone, with an only offspring, Pat, an infant to care 
for, and he even gave the names of the domestic s that my father 


\ 




THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 


II 


employed to carry on his household affairs. So the overseer 
began to enumerate every particular of the early history of my 
father’s family ; indeed he was far more familiar with many early- 
time concerns of our family than I was myself. He gave a 
remarkable account of a little affair that he and my father had 
with Norwegian pirates, when my father was with him on a whal- 
ing vessel in northern waters. He said that the vessel had been 
out all season, and had collected a great cargo of whale’s 
blubber ; and about the time that the crew were ready to return 
home, they were attacked by pirates, and that my father lost the 
lobe of his right ear by a close pistol ball, fired from the pistol 
of a pirate. Of course you will readily observe, that when the 
overseer had so minutely narrated all these facts and particulars 
concerning my father’s family, that I was brought face to face 
with my uncle. 

We then left the negro hut, for the evening was far gone. 
The overseer took me to his house, which was a luxurious 
palace indeed. He afterwards extended to me the hospitalities 
of the plantation, and gave me freedom to go whithersoever I 
might, over the vast domain included in his wealthy empire. lie 
ordered his servants to do my bidding and to minister to my 
wants. In a few days he began to question me about my busi- 
ness, and inquire more particularly about my father’s circum- 
stances, with the view and intent of course, to find out what 
could be my design in sailing down the Mississippi, and what 
could be my object in exchanging my quiet and peaceful home 
for the sham shows of the world. I gave him the best account I 
could of my father’s circumstances. I reminded the overseer 
that my father had made considerable progress in the second half 
century of his life, and that he was desirous that I should travel 
and establish vigorous health, and at the same time become en- 
lightened in gentility, politics and diplomacy, and finally return 
and take charge of the homestead. At this time I did not want 
the overseer to get any clue to my avaricious designs to acquire 
wealth in Mexico. 

In the course of time the overseer gave out to me glowing 


12 


PA TRICK O' MONIGHAN, OR 


accounts of his past life, both before and since he sailed in the 
unfortunate ship, El Dorado, of which I will hereafter give due 
note. We would often sit at the overseer’s fire-side and converse 
until the night was well nigh w©rn away. He took pride in narrat- 
ing his daring and heroic exploits. So it was one evening, when 
he felt unusually vain over the glory of his deeds, that he made 
me aware that he, too, had been allured by the fabled gold of 
“ 01d Uzarro -” Our fireside talk about matters of the sea, and 
particularly about lost treasures, led the overseer to remark that 
we had a common ancestor of the name of Uzarro, who held 
some trival official military rank, under Cortez, the conquerer of 
Mexico, and that in the plundering and robbing of the country, 
Old Uzarro,” being of an enterprising turn, accumulated sev- 
eral millions of gold, which he concealed from the eye of his 
avaricious commander. But Cortez had his spies out, and the 
wealth of our ancessor was suspected; and. he was arrested, man- 
acled and imprisoned on ship-board, some distance out from 
land. “ Old Uzarro ” jumped overboard and attempted to swim 
ashore, but the heavy irons with which his feet were manacled 
carried him down, and he was drowned. By the way, it was 
believed by some that he was manacled, blindfolded and cast 
into the sea. However it may have been, Cortez never found 
“the hidden treasure of Old Uzarro.” So it lies buried, in a 
large sized camp-kettle to this day. 

The overseer told me very strange stories of the adventures 
of many of the descendants of “Old Uzarro” in unavailing 
efforts to find the treasure. He said that the bones of more than 
a score of our ancient relatives whitened the surface of Mexicans 
soil, till Time had moulded them into common clay. He told 
me at one time three of our relatives were buried alive by the 
perfidious Mexicans. They were down in a hole that they had 
made in their search, when the Mexicans came up and buried 
them alive. I think the overseer overdrew these accounts, and 
made them very strong in his anxiety to dissuade me from my 
course, when I had made him aware that I, too, had left the com- 
forts of my father’s home near the river Hudson, to look after 


13 


\ 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 

our common estate in Mexico. I told the overseer that in a 
council between my father and myself, that we, for the purpose 
of the expedition, had changed my name from O’Monighan to 
Uzarro. The overseer also told me of the efforts of those that 
sailed in the unfortunate El Dorado to find “ Old Uzarro’s 
buried kettle ” ; for the treasure of “ Old Uzarro ” was among 
the lost gold the crew of the El Dorado expected to find. 

I now wrote to my father and gave due account of my ship- 
wreck and the finding of Jacob Jonah, my long missing uncle. 
When the overseer and I understood each other about our lost 
possessions in Mexico, he lost no time or opportunity to dissuade 
me from my course, and I soon began to yield to his entreaties, 
for the fate of my relatives that were buried alivre, was almost 
sufficient, to keep me out of Mexico. The overseer told me that 
his hopes in finding the lost treasure were blighted by his unfor- 
tunate voyage in the El Dorado. 

Before I go any further with my story, I may as well tell you 
of a little incident that is founded on a scene that I witnessed 
which will illustrate plantation life thirty years ago. I have, as 
it appears, regarded my uncle as the man of most importance on 
the plantation ; but at the same time, with all his importance, he 
was only an overseer of high rank. 

One day, whilst I . was sitting in the yard, musing about the 
probabilities of my future career, and what should be my future 
glory, I noticed a sudden flutter among all the little darkies that 
were lying loose about the place. I saw tfiem running to their 
huts and darting about in all directions to find hiding places. I 
caught the flurry myself, and looking excitedly about for the 
cause, I saw a small, dried up and weazen-faced man, about the 
color of a mulatto, walking hurriedly towards the overseer’s man- 
sion, and noticing closely, and looking sharp and long, my eyes 
convinced me that he held a fighting cock under his arm, and 
that he was no stranger to the place. He went straight-way to 
the overseer’s mansion and sent an orderly for the overseer, who 
was then at a distant part of the plantation. When the overseer 
came in, the strange little man gave directions to the overseer 


z 4 PATRICK O' MONIGHAN, OR 

about how to treat and dress the wounds of the fighting cock, 
which ne seemed to consider very important. The overseer 
beckoned me to draw near, and when I came forward he intro- 
duced me to Colonel Napoleon Nicholas, as his nephew, Patrick 
Q’Monighart, from New York. I was then made aware that Col. 
Nicholas was the proprietor of the plantation, and that he lived 
in the city of New Orleans, far below. I thought at the time 
that Col. Nicholas had come up to look after his interests on the 
plantation ; but the overseer told me afterwards that the Col- 
onel s cock was defeated, with the loss of an eye, in a main some 
some days before, and that the Colonel had been a heavy loser, 
as a result of his cock’s defeat and had come up to the plantation 
to get the overseer to sell some darkies, and again fit him out 
for the cock pit. 

At that time I was a youth of twenty-one years, and thought 
it a very brilliant piece of worldly glory to own a plantation and 
have fighting cocks for amusement. Thus do early impressions 
often lead to life-time pursuits as well as to youthful downfal 
and ruin. 

Colonel Napoleon Nicholas, after the most scrutinizing ex- 
amination of the overseer in regard to my bringing up, offered 
to employ me as assistant to my uncle. His offer being liberal 
enough, as I supposed, was accepted, and I remained on the 
plantation for several years, attaining high rank in the medical 
profession, of matters pertaining to which I will make proper 
mention in the closing part of my story. 

During my professional career on the plantation, 1 learned all 
about the heroic exploits of the overseer, Jacob Jonah, my uncle, 
and in the following brief chapters, 1 will attempt to narrate some 
of his most daring, noteworthy and heroic exploits on sea, and 
then on land, and then on sea and land, in which narrative you 
will learn more about “the hidden treasure of Old Uzarro.” 


CHAPTER II. 


Exploits of Jacob Jonah on Sea. 

J ACOB JONAH, the star hero of his day, whose exploits are 
here set forth as I gathered them from his own guileless 
tongue, was born in the city of Boston, Massachusetts, some 
time in the latter end of the eighteenth century. His father, 
whose name was Jacob Jonah, was a poor, but respectable 
whaler, constantly employed on whaling vessels engaged on 
northern seas— a business that was very profitable in that day. 
But the elder Jacob Jonah made no effort to acquire any more 
of the blubber of the earth than his immediate necessities re- 
quired. As soon as the younger Jacob Jonah was strong enough, 
which was when he was of about twelve years’ growth, he was 
taken with his father on many whaling expeditions to the north- 
ern waters. The younger Jonah was soon able to take a leading 
part with the harpoon, so that about the time that he reached 
his sixteenth year, he was considered a most skillful whaler. 
The younger Jonah had learned all the art of sea-faring life, 
understood all the the signs and omen's of the sea, and had no 
thought, it would appear, of abandoning a life that is so full ot 
glory and opportunities to perform brave and daring feats. 
But a sad catastrophe occurred about A. D. 1815, in whlctl 
the elder Jonah lost his life, and which caused the younger 
Jonah much adventure. The catastrophe of which I write has 


16 PATRICK O' MONIGHAN, OR 

long ago been forgotton, as no forget-me-not ever marks the 
drowned sailor’s grave. No one can decorate the grave of the 
sailor. The silent sea retains all his glory. The whaling vessel 
on which the elder Jonah and younger Jonah were employed, 
was crushed to atoms between two floating ice-mountains, and 
all on board were either killed by the collision, or crippled, and 
sank down to the bottom of the sea, save the nimble, lithe and 
agile younger Jonah, who managed to climb up the side of the 
ice-mountain, which was sailing swiftly southward. He climbed 
up even to its snow-capped summit, and sat down and began to 
take his reckoning, and to look out over the sea for a sail ; but 
he was almost immediately assailed by a host of powerful fal- 
cons, that lit down on him with a determination to make a meal 
out of him, but he managed to keep them at bay, and clambered 
down the side of the mountain, and in clambering down the 
mountain-side he espied a hole in the ice, and immediately 
forced his body through the hole to get out of the reach of his 
pursuers ; and wl^en he got inside of the hole he was surprised 
to find quite a cavity, that formed a large and capacious cell, 
and even in his distressed condition, felt much better in out of 
the reach of the falcons. 

After he had sat down and rested for some time he saw some- 
thing sticking up on the surface of the ice that looked like the 
fins of a fish, and taking his knife, he began to dig down in the' 
ice and prospect, and lo ! what should appear below the surface 
a few inches but the back of a very large fin-backed whale that was 
completely frozen in the ice-mountain. Young Jonah continued 
to operate with his knife till he had made a hole in the back of 
the whale large enough to admit his body. Then he crawled down 
into the belly of the whale, and with his knife, the only effective 
mean that he possessed about his person, and a whale-bone, he 
succeeded, after much rubbing, in striking fire, which he kindled 
with a lock of his hair and part of his garments, and soen igni- 
ted some of the pld whale’s blubber, which soon afforded a flame 
over which he warmed his fingers, which by this time were very 
cold. He then ate some of the whale, and after eating lay down 

V ' V 


fHE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. ij 

and took a nap, an \ then proceeded to make things as comfort- 
able as circumstances would permit. The next day he climbed 
up to the door of his house, that he had made, through the back 
of the old whale, to look out and take a view of the weather, 
and look out over the sea for a sail. But to his great trouble 
and fear the ice-mountain was whirling northward, at the rate of 
forty knots an hour, before a terrific, howling hurricane, and 
when he put his face up to the door to look out, his eyes, nose, 
mouth and ears were instantly jammed full of the drifting frost. 
So stunning was the blast that it loosed his hold and he fell down 
to the floor of his house in the old whale’s belly. The fall 
stunned him somewhat, but luckily broke no bones. Young 
Jonah did not return to look out for several days, but remained 
pacified in the old whale’s belly. He observed, from the mo- 
tions that he could see out through the door of his house, that 
his mountain was swiftly moving to the north, and soon he 
reached a latitude where it was night ! night ! night ! with- 
out any relief by a returning day. He had reached the latitude 
of Spitzbergen, where the night is three months long. He now 
began to devise means that would answer the exigency of his sit' 
uation, so he took a rib from the side of the old whale and made 
a weapon somewhat resembling a spear. He thought, with this 
rude make-shift, that he would be able to sly up and spear some 
species of fish that are very clumsy ; for in the course of two or 
three weeks he became very tired of the old whale’s skin; for 
that was what constituted his board. He would take a piece of 
her skin and broil it over a fire made out of her blubber. So 
after he had been in the old whale’s belly for a long time, he 
ventured out, with his whale-rib spear in his hand, for the first 
time since he had received the stormy blast in his face. After 
he had been out for some time and was almost frozen, he suc- 
ceeded in wounding a fish, and captured it, and was going back 
to his home in the old whale’s belly, feeling vety content and 
happy, in anticipation of a luxurious meal. The aurora borealis 
shed a most brilliant and dazzling light, and the moon occa- 
sionally blinked through the frost, and all nature seemed to re- 


iS PATRICK O' MONIGHAN, OR 

vive a hopeful feeling in Jonah’s breast, and as he trudged along 
homeward with his fish in his hand, he thought that if his moun- 
tain would afford him such delicious fish for food, that after a 
while it would begin to look more homelike. But what do you 
suppose were Jonah’s feelings when he got within sight of his 
home, when he saw a monstrous old Polar bear, of the masculine 
gender, lying down at the door of his house, with his head 
pushed in, and trying all the while to crowd his body through 
the door. Of course Jonah was non-plussed for a minute or so 
and did not exactly know how he would proceed. He could 
not imagine how the old Polar bear got upon his mountain ; but 
going up to the summit, to his great wonder, he observed that 
his mountain had joined itself to a whole chain of ice- mountains 
and no doubt the old Polar bear had, through some unfortunate 
slip of the ice. been left an out-cast, on an ice-mountain, and had 
become quite hungry and famished, and in wandering about in 
quest of food had scented Jonah’s house. Jonah crept down as 
near his door as his safety would permit, and there the old Polar 
bear sat, without any apparent inclination to quit the premises. 
The old Polar bear kept his head in the door of Jonah’s house, 
of course, because it was very pleasantly perfumed with the burn- 
ing blubber of the whale that Jonah used in his lamp, and the 
old Polar bear seemed to enjoy it very much. But Jonah did 
not enjoy staying out of his house, in fact he could not stand 
the pressure of the cold much longer. He was compelled to get 
back into his home in the old whale’s belly or else he would freeze. 
So he began to think of plans that would be most likely to win. 
He thought that if the old Polar bear had his fish it would make 
him a tolerably fair meal, and the brute would then go off and 
let him in his house. So hiding himself from the observation 
of the old Polar bear, when he would take his head out of the 
dt)or, Jonah let his fish roll down on the neck and shoulders of 
the old Polar bear, which uttered a savage' growl and jerked his 
head out of the doer and grabbed up the fish, and ran away quite 
out of sight. Jonah hastened into his house, determined 
to subsist on the old whale’s skin as long as possible, and 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARkO. 


19 


go out of doors only in case of extreme necessity. But 
what do you think ? Jonah had hardly cooked and eaten 
his supper, when he observed that his outside door was ’’closed 
and dark. Mind you, there were two doors to his house. There 
was the outside door that Jonah discovered when the falcons 
pursued him, and the door again that lead down into the base- 
ment, that he had cut with his knife through the old whale’s 
back to get down into her belly. So you see, he lived in a two- 
story house of the grandest architecture. 

So Jonah got up and began to investigate his premises, and 
there, sure enough, was the old Polar bear, that had eaten his 
fish, with his head poked in through the door, and squeezing 
himself in fes far as possible, and craning out his neck and scent- 
ing and sniffing the perfumery from the burning oil, down in 
the basement. 

Now Jonah thought if good luck would deign to favor his wits, 
that he could slay the old Polar bear. His plan was to ascend 
up above in the upper story, arid whilst the old Polar bear was 
craning his neck to scent the perfumes, with a fortunate and 
skilful twist of his knife to sever the old Polar bear’s throat. So 
he proceeded to execute his plan ; but he made a hair-breadth es- 
cape ; for when he was peering around in the dark to get an op- 
portunity to strike with his knife, he came within reach of the 
old Polar bear’s paws. The old Polar bear of course mistook 
him for a seal, and grabbed him by the arm ; but in the first 
effort of the old Polar bear to drag Jonah through the door, his 
feet slipped on the ice, that had been made slippery by lying 
on it, and the next instant Jonah severed his jugular with his 
knife. 

I almost forgot to note that Jonah found a good sized stone 
in the whale’s belly. This stone was of the proper grit, and 
made a most excellent whetstone, which was of incalculable ser- 
vice to Jonah in his very cramped and limited means for such 
onerous warfare as slaying polar bears. For all the weapon that 
he possessed on earth was the knife, of no wonderful dimentions, 
that he had in its scabbard at the time that the ice-mountains 


26 


PA TRICK O' MONIGHAn, OR 

collided on the ship ; so he was very fortunate in finding the 
whetstone. It not only served to whet his knife, but made a 
tolerably fair file to file down the bones of the whale, which he 
manufactured into various shaped tools to suit his business. 

So after he severed the old Polar bear’s jugular, he listened 
from the inside of his house, and when the old Polar bear ceased 
kicking and scratching, he took his whetstone and whetted his 
knife, and went out of doors and flayed the monstrous old Polar 
bear. 

He managed to get the skin off entire, claws, teeth and all 
together. He even left the jaws and snout on the skin, for pur- 
poses that will hereafter appear. After he had the skin clear off 
he took it inside and built up a good fire, and quartered the old 
Polar bear, and cut the meat up in chuncks of the proper size to 
dry, so it would absorb all the smoke of his lamp, and be in 
such a condition that it would not get wormy in summer. He 
then suspended the chunks from the back-bone of the whale and 
there left them to swing till taken down for consumption. The 
short bones and ribs that extended out from the old whale’s 
back-bone, sQrved as hooks to hang his meat on, and in fact, 
they were just in the right place. 

So large was the old Polar bear, and so fruitful of meat that 
when Jonah had the meat all severed from the bones he had 
fourteen hundred and some odd pounds as near as he could 
guess at the weight, besides no end to bear’s oil; so you see 
Jonah quit eating the old whale’s skin as soon as he got better 
board. I have not told you yet what constituted his lamp. 
Well, before he slew the old Polar bear, he used the bones of 
the whale. A lamp made of the whale’s bones would last some 
time, and after he slew the old Polar bear he took the old Polar 
bear’s cranium, and with his knife and whetstone made a lamp 
that not only served its necessary purposes, but was indeed quite 
ornamental. Jonah would sometimes use a wick in his lamp 
made of the old whale’s skin, and sometimes he would use the 
old whale’s bones, and pretty much anything that would serve 
and would come handy. 






THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 21 

Well, I suppose you are anxious to know what use Jonah made 
of the old Polar bear’s skin. When he flayed it off he took it 
into his house, and dressed it in such a way that it made him a 
most excellent suit. He dressed and curried the inside of the 
skin until it was just as soft and pliable as silk. He had left the 
paws, teeth, snout and claws on the skin, and he dressed the 
claws and teeth with so much art that they looked just as nat- 
ural as when the old Polar bear wore them, and if any difference 
they were more becoming. When he had the old Polar bear's 
skin dressed and dry enough to wear, the severest winter weath- 
er set in. But Jonah was prepared to face it. When he went 
out to catch fish with his whale-rib spear, he would put on his 
handsome bear-skin suit, which was very becoming to his person, 
for he would get entirely inside of the skin. Then with the 
dried sinews of the old Polar bear, he would lace himself up so 
you/would not be able to recognize his human nature. 

Thus arrayed against the frost, he would sally forth and hunt 
and fish for hours at a time, when the aurora borealis would af- 
ford him light, till, together with bear meat, and fish, and a few 
seals, he had his house so full that he was compelled to enlarge 
it by clearing away one side of the whale: The part of the 
whale that he removed so as to enlarge his house, served for fuel, 
of course. Thus, in fishing and hunting with his whale-rib spear, 
he passed his first winter. He had no hope of any ship coming 
to his rescue in winter. That event he expected to happen the 
following summer, for he indulged the hope that his mountain, 
on the approach of summer, would be carried by a gale from the 
north down into a lower latitude, and then he would be able to 
sight and hail a vessel. As Jonah was acquainted with arctic 
warfare he naturally enough supposed that he would sight a whal- 
ing fleet the next summer in the event that his mountain would 
sail some distance to the south. But in case his mountain con- 
tinued on its course northward, or even remained stationary, 
he could but entertain a slight degree of hope, as vessels rarely 
reached the latitude which his mountain had attained. 


CHAPTER III. 


Exploits of Jacob Jonah on Sea, 

T^vURINGthe long winter night Jonah was often put to his wits 
end to devise means of amusement. It is true that when 
engaged in spearing fish and marine animals with his whale-rib 
spear, that the exciting character of the pursuit would naturally 
dissipate the thought of his lonely condition and feelings of a 
drooping nature. But Jonah could not remain out of doors all 
the time. Even his Polar bear robe, which was sufficient at all 
times to protect his person from the silent cold, would not, at 
times, withstand the sweeping, seething Polar storm, and Jonah 
would be forced to keep within doors for hours and hoiirs at a 
time. At such times Jonah would think of his forlorn, lonely 
and cast-away condition, and grow weary of the dark, icy world. 
An abundance of wholesome food which he had in store served 
his stomach well enough, but would not repulse the repeated as- 
saults of the melancholly spectre during a severe Polar storm . 
Sometimes the dark reflections of his mind would join with the 
howling, sombre darkness without, and his heart would heave a 
deep sigh as if with parting action. Now Jonah was very fond 
of that musical and very popular instrument known as the banjo. 
He thought that if he had a banjo its soothing grains would of- 
ten strengthen his flagging spirits during the protracted Polar 
storms. His condition had already made him quite ingenious, 

(22) 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 23 

So he contrived to construct a banjo from the bones of the ani- 
mals he had slain. He strung his banjo with delicately trimmed 
thongs cut from the skins of the sea animals. His banjo at first 
was rather rude in workmanship, and the strains of music that 
proceeded from it would be considered by those that are precise 
and critical, wholly incompetent to soothe a savage breast. But 
he added improvement to improvement, till he possessed a very 
musical and soul-inspiring instrument. When he had his banjo 
perfected he would sit and while away the lonesome, dark hours 
with music and song. 

After months of darkness, daylight approached, but Jonah 
could not get a sight of the sun he longed so much to see. He 
would repeatedly go up to the summit of the mountain to get a 
sight of the sun. And it was for a time, as long as two weeks, 
before Jonah could see the sun. When the sun appeared, hope 
revived in the breast of Jonah ; he thought he might get back to 
his native land. So sometime after the sun appeared, he built a 
summer residence out on the mountain-side. The slopes of tne 
mountain were beautifully and artistically shelved. Jack Frost, 
at all times and places, is the grandest master of art and archi- 
tecture, and in the building of Jonah’s mountain there was noth- 
ing left imperfect. A shelf of considerable dimensions projected 
out from the mountain a few teet below Jonah s door, and here 
and there all over the mountain there were shelves as if intended 
for the resting places of Jonah. So upon one of these shelves 
far up the mountain side, Jonah built his summer residence. 
This summer residence he constructed of fish and seal skins and 
the skins of the various sea animals that he had slam with his 
whale-rib spear. When he was not engaged in fishing or hunt, 
ing, he would sit in the door of his summer residence and watch 
over the sea for a sail ; or he would frequently ascend up to the 
summit of the mountain— which was about thirteen hundred feet 
above the level of the sea, and there on the summit of the moun- 
tain, dressed in his Polar bear robe, he would lie and watch out 
over the sea hoping to sight a flotilla of whaling vessels. An 
open sea lay off to the south ; to the north the sea was locked 


24 


PATRICK O' M0N1GHAN, OR 


up in eternal ice-fields and ice-mountains. One time a flotilla 
of whaling ships came in full view, but the very minute that 
the sailors saw the Jonah mountain they quickly changed their 
course, turned stern and sailed away from Jonah. They were 
afraid of the ice, of course. At another time a very large ship 
came sailing in the direction of Jonah’s mountain but turned 
and took a good look at the mountain and then retraced course 
and sailed away. Jonah was on the summit of the mountain 
and cried aloud, and made all the signs that he thought would 
be most likely to be understood by the sailors. But the captain 
of the ship leveled his telescope on Jonah and took a good look 
at him, and thinking no doubt that Jonah was a walrus or a Polar 
bear, .he lowered his glass and paid no more attention to Jonah. 

It was a short time after Jonah saw the last vessel when the 
ice-fields and ice-mountains to which Jonah’s great mountain 
was attached, broke up with a tremendous crashing, splashing and 
uproar, that fnade Jonah tremble in his very heart, with fear that 
his own home mountain would crumble to pieces and let him 
drop down into the sea. This breaking up of the ice was caused 
by the change of seasons, which caused a change of under- 
currents in the sea, for there was not the least indication of a 
thaw on the surface of the ice. When the ice had broken up, 
Jonah climbed, up on the summit of his mountain to witness the 
effects of the natural upheaval of the sea, and there he saw how 
it was. To the south of his mountain was a broad, open sea. 
On each flank of his mountain was a fleet of small mountains 
and ice-fields. The mountains that were left fastened to his great 
mountain were some of them from four hundred to seven hundred 
feet high, and the ice-fields and ice-mountains extended out 
from his mountain in such a way that they formed wings on each 
flank about twelve miles in extent. The rear of Jonah’s moun- ' 
tain was protected by a tail of ice-fields and ice-mountains about 
ten or fifteen miles in extent ; and the whole mass, Jonah’s 
mountain and all, were moving slowly, but grandly to the south 
before an under-current from the north. Jonah’s heart heaved 
with emotion as he witnessed the sublime scene. Jonah could 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 


25 


but feel that he held one of the most sublime positions that was 
ever vouchsafed to a man. He was the sole proprietor and com- 
mander of the most invincible Armada that ever sailed on sea. 

After Jonah looked on and adn’iired his grand fleet of moun- 
tains till he was tired and exhausted, he descended back into his 
summer residence, on the side of the mountain, where he could 
see about all that was necessary for him to see. His house was 
on the south side of the mountain, and he kept a constant out- 
look over the sea for vessels. 

After Jonahs fleet had got fairly out in the open sea, and was 
moving grandly in its southward course, Jonah sighted the sails 
of several vessels, far off to the south. He hoped that the sailors 
would not see his invincible Armada till he could get close 
enough to them to be recognized as a human being. But his 
hope was not gratified. The fleet of vessels saw the top of Jonah’s 
great mountain as it arose from the horizon and reflected under 
the rays of the sun. But the sailors were so panic-stricken that 
it took them sometime to right matters and sail away from the 
ice-moUntains that were floating down upon them, and in the 
panic, Jonah got close enough to them to be recognized with 
the naked eye, but it seems that none of the sailors were inspect- 
ing Jonah’s invincible fleet. All they desired was to get away 
as fast as possible. After Jonah had been' out at sea for some 
time, his invincible Armada became enshrouded in a dense, dark 
fog, which lasted through many hours. During the fog, Jonah 
went down near the base 6fhis mountain, and took up hisVposi- 
tion on the shelving ice. He had not been long in his new po- 
sition when he heard some ship officer speaking through a trum- 
pet. Jonah exerted his vision to see through the fog, for he knew 
that he was close on a vessel. In the course of an hour from the 
time that he heard the first sound of the trumpet, he heard an- 
other sound proceed from the surface of the sea, and in a few 
minutes he was convinced that his invincible Armada was about 
to run onto a flotilla of whaling vessels ; for he now began to 
hear the sounds of half a dozen trumpets. It seemed that those 
in charge of the ships were giving orders how to proceed out of 


26 


PATRICK O' MONIGHAN, OR 


the fog, and no doubt they were crying out to each other to 
avoid a collision of vessels. Jonah got so near the fleet that he 
could plainly hear what was^said through the trumpets. And so 
dark and dense was the fog that you could distinguish no object 
but a light, and even a light off but a short distance, could not 
be discerned through the dense fog. But Jonah drew so near 
the flotilla that he could plainly see dim lights, two or three hun- 
dred feet below on the surface of the sea, and the lights were 
not more than three hundred yards in advance of Jonah’s invinci- 
ble Armada. Jonah was soon convinced that his own fleet was 
approaching nearer and nearer to the whalers : yet it seemed 
that the whalers were sailing in the same direction with Jonah’s 
fleet, but owing to the intense darkness, they had slacked sail, 
and were moving very slowly. Jonah became alarmed, lest his 
invincible Armada would run the whalers down, and drown all 
on board. But he kept still, as he thought that the fog would 
clear away and leave him so close to the whalers that they could 
not miss seeing him and come to his rescue. Besides he knew 
that ft would not answer for him to make an outcry from his 
lofty position ; for if he should cry aloud the sailors would think 
the cry proceeded from a ghost, as the intense darkness prevented 
their seeing Jonah’s invincible Armada. So Jonah determined 
to reserve his speech to the last, and make no outcry unless he 
should be convinced that his fleet was almost on the whalers. 
Jonah kept a sharp outlook, and could see the lights from the 
ships- as they twinkled their rays now and then through the dark- 
ness and fog. But Jonah became very anxious when he saw a 
light twinkle down on the surface of the sea, apparently but a 
few rods in advance of his own invincible fleet; and so anxious 
did he become about the safety of his fellow citizens of the sea 
that he involuntarily cried out at the top of his voice, “Look 
out down below !” It was still and dark out over the sea to the 
last degree, and Jonah’s voice echoed through his own icy fleet 
as if all creation had cried out, “Look out down below!” 
Jonah saw at once that he had committed a great error, and as 
his voice echoed along the canons of his mountain fleet, he 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 27 

heartily wished he had the outcry^ back in his lungs, where 
he would try and restrain it, for he saw at once that it would so 
scare and unnerve the sailors that perhaps some of them would 
lose their wits and leap into the sea. When the outcry “Look 
out down below !” fell down from the sky on the sailors, it had the 
effect that Jonah could but expect. The sailors that were up in 
the rigging of the ship that was nearest to Jonah, let go all hold 
and fell down on the ship, for Jonah 'could hear them as their 
bodies struck the solid substance of the ship. Jonah seeing the 
blunder that he had committed in crying out, undertook to 
amend by beginning a speech in a very loud voice. He yet had 
hope that he would be able to convince some of the sailors on 
the vessels down below that he was a real sailor, and not a sea 
hob-goblin. He supposed that, could he convince them that he 
was a shipwrecked sailor, that w r hen the fog would pass away and 
it would become light and clear, that they would try and rescue 
him. So Jonah cried out that he was a lost sailor that had been 
shipwrecked. Well, this of course, did not make matters a whit 
better. That was just what the sailors down below supposed — 
that Jonah was a drowned sailor, or rather the ghost of a drowned 
sailor that inhabited the dark fog and rolling billows of the sea, 
and took advantage of the gloom to speak. The crew of the 
vessel that was nearest to Jonah, after he had spol<en the second 
time, became more excited than before. He could hear the 
crew lowering their boats with all possible expedition, and mak- 
ing off over the sea to the neighboring vessels that had not heard 
the voice of Jonah. But Jonah could hear splashings in the water 
that plainly indicated that all the sailors did not wait to get. in 
the boats, r but jumped overboard and abandoned the haunted 
ship. Jonah was of the opinion that his invincible Armada was 
not more than one hundred yards from the first vessel when the 
crew abandoned it. The other vessels were off some three or 
four hundred yards perhaps, but they appeared quite near to 
Jonah’s fleet from his high position. The invincible Armada 
moved slowly towards the vessels that continued to move along 
in the same course. When those in the boats from the aban- 


28 


PATRICK O’MONIGHAN, OR 


cloned ship reached the vessels that were farther out and in ad- 
vance of Jonah’s fleet, they at once . gave the alarm, and the sail- 
ors were ordered above to hoist full sail, and the flotilla was soon 
under full sail, but not until Jonah’s fleet was almost within reach. 
Jonah, as a last resort to prove his physical reality, secured a 
loose fragment of ice, weighing some three or four hundred 
pounds, and set iL to rolling down the side of his mountain. 
The great boulder of ice* went bouncing down the side of the 
mountain and loosed other fragments of ice in its course till .it 
appeared as if the whole mountain was crumbling away and 
dropping down into the sea. When the fragments of ice reached 
the surface down below, Jonah could hear them strike the aban- 
doned ship, which by this time was at the base of Jonah’s 
mountain. The great boulders of ice crashed through the 
abandoned ship and completely riddled it, so that it no doubt 
almost instantly sank down to the bottom of the sea. Jonah 
was now within hailing distance of one of the ships and again 
cried out at the top of his voice, making it known in his 
plaintive cry that he was a ship-wrecked sailor. But had there 
been any stout-hearted sailor among the crew, that was faithless 
to the doctrines of sea hob-goblins, he was surely cured forever 
of his skepticism when he heard the hob-goblins raining down 
from the dark vaults of the heavens, what would appear to the 
most practical ear as a shower of millstones on the abandoned 
ship. Jonah now saw that he had committed another blunder 
in setting the ice boulders to roll. If the ice boulders had not 
crushed the abandoned ship, he might have descended when the 
darkness and fog disappeared, and placed himself in possession 
and command of the abandoned ship, and leisurely sailed away 
to whatever port he might prefer. Jonah now contemplated his 
hasty action with sorrow. He had driven away the entire flotib 
la of ships and so frightened the sailors that they would hardly 
ever visit that quarter of the sea again. The flotilla that was in 
front of Jonah’s invincible Armada, after hoisting full sail, made 
good speed, and was soon beyond the hearing of Jonah, and 
even the dim lights were soon buried out of sight in the dense, 




f 


the Hidden treasure of old uzarro. 2 $ 

dark fog. Jonah was of the opinion that the sailors of the whaling 
flotilla became so panic-stricken when he made the first outcry that 
they were not made aware of the presence of his ice-mountain 
fleet. In fact the darkness of the night was so intensified with 
fog that sight was powerless, and from some atmospheric causes 
the ice did not shed its usual dim light. 




i 










CHAPTER IV. 


Exploits of Jacob Jonah on Sea. 



BOUT four-and-twenty hours after the whaling fleet sailed 


A away in the foggy darkness, and left Jonah alone and deso- 
late on his mountain, the darkness and mist began to blow away 
before a gentle sea breeze, and in a few hours from the time that 
the gale set in the sky became quite clear, and the light clouds 
that overhung the surface of the sea passed away; and the heavens 
became so pure and light that a small object far out at sea ap- 
peared almost within reach. Jonah ascended up to the summit 
of his mountain to take his reckoning, and to view the new 
features of his situation as well as to number the ice-mountains 
remaining intact in his invincible Armada. Jonah was no little 
surprised when, in ascending up the mountain, to find that it had 
become quite slippery and gave signs of melting and early de- 
cay. The dissolving condition of Jonah’s mountain caused him 
much uneasiness and he heartily wished that his mountain 
would sail back to its cold home in the far north. 

When Jonah reached the summit of his mountain he was as- 
tonished to witness the dispersion of his invincible Armada. It 
seemed that his fleet had reached a contrary current of the sea 
and the ice-mountains were torn asunder and scattered promis- 


(30) 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 


3i 


cuouslv far out over the surface of the sea. Some of the ice- 
mountains appeared stationary, whilst others were turning slow- 
ly around as if turned in an eddy. 

Some were sailing off eastward, some northward, some south- 
ward, some westward, and others were sailing around a great 
circle. After Jonah witnessed the manceuvering of his disrupted 
fleet for some time he saw how it was. His fleet had reached a 
current of the sea that was flowing in a northeasterly course and 
it was this current that separated the ice-mountains that formed 
his invincible Armada. Jonah’s own home mountain continued 
to wheel till it was completely turned around on its base and that 
part of the mountain that had faced the south was turned around 
till it faced the north. But Jonah’s mountain gradually regain- 
ed its old position, as it sailed into and along in the current of 
the deep sea channel, for it soon reached the deep sea current, 
whilst the smaller mountains that extended but a short distance 
below the surface seemed to sit motionless or to move about in 
an irregular course. Jonah’s own home mountain, when it sepa- 
rated from the fleet, retained a fringe of ice down near the base. 
This ice formed a very artistic shelf and was just the proper dis- 
tance from the surface of the sea and afforded Jonah ample space 
on which to stand and spear fish with his whale-rib spear, and 
was indeed a very accommodating foot-path extending nearly 
around his mountain. And when the sea was calm Jonah whiled 
away his time in fishing or watching the sports of the fish. 

When Jonah’s mountain reached the channel of the sea that 
was flowing in a northeasterly course, it at first moved slowly 
and irregularly but it gradually regained a smooth motion and 
regularity. 

Jonah stood on the summit of his mountain as if to command 
in the great naval battle that was about to take place. For it 
was easy to foresee what was about to happen. 

Jonah’s mountain was moving grandly along in a straight, 
forward course whilst numerous smaller mountains, ranging in 
height from four hundred to seven hundred feet, seemed to lie 
motionless, or to move so slowly that Jonah’s mountain was 


3 ^ 


PATRICK O' MON1GHAN. OR 

9 

swiftly running onto thera and collision and wreck was inevita- 
ble. Jonah’s mountain was well formed for active service. But 
its strength was untested and Jonah of course had his fears. 
Jonah did not know whether the prodigious size of his mountain 
would be of advantage or not, for it was possible that a small 
mountain could split it from stem to stern. Jonah’s mountain 
was upwards of three thousand feet in diameter clown at the sur- 
face of the sea exclusive of the wedge-shaped prow in front that 
seemed to be added for naval purposes, and was about thirteen 
hundred feet high and was not at all steep on some of its ap- 
proaches, but rather undulating. Jonah’s mountain when sepa- 
ted from the invincible Armada was left in a peculiar oblong 
shape, somewhat egg-shaped, or it would perhaps be more proper 
to call it wedge-shaped, and fortunately the point of the wedge 
pointed as steadfastly to the front as the magnetic needle points 
to the Pole. 

When Jonah saw that collision between his mountain and the 
lesser ice-mountains would surely take place, he stationed him- 
self in a position down on the slope of his mountain facing to 
the scene of battle and awaited results. The first mountain that 
Jonah’s mountain had to encounter was about seven hundred 
feet high but comparatively slender and from some natural cause 
in the under-current of the sea,, was sailing down on Jonah’s 
mountain. Jonah saw this and knew that it increased the danger 
of his situation; as the mountains were moving in opposite di- 
rections, the crash would be terrific. The crash came at last and 
came near enough finishing both Jonah and his mountain. 

When the mountains collided the sound created resembled 
the low, subterraneous rumbling of an earthquake. The prow 
of Jonah’s mountain was dipped down deep in the sea which 
gave the mountain a very steep descent down from the shelf of 
ice on which Jonah had taken his position, and when the prow 
of his mountain was dipped down in the sea, Jonah lost his grip 
on the ice and went rolling and tumbling down his mountain, 
scratching and grabbing at the ice trying to assist in finding his 
center of gravity. 


The hidden treasure oe old uzarro. 


33 


Great fragments of ice were shaken loose from the sides of Jo- 
nah’s mountain and these fragments, many of them of several 
tons weight, narrowly missed Jonah as they went hounding into 
the sea. When Jonah had rolled far down the side of his moun- 
tain and almost into the disturbed sea, his mountain began to 
raise its prow up from the water md as the descent became less 
precipitous Jonah managed to gain a hand hold which proved 
sufficient to serve him till his mountain raised up from the water 
and regained its natural equilibrium. The opposing mountain 
was so crushed and shocked that it fell down in pieces and scat- 
tered out over the surface of the sea. When Jonah’s mountain 
had so far ceased heaving about on the sea so that he could in- 
vestigate the damage, he found upon thorough inspection that 
his mountain was none the worse after the battle saving the 
damage that was done to his summer residence, and that piece 
of property was completely annihilated, for an immense frag- 
ment of ice had been shaken loose far above Jonah’s residence 
and came rolling down the mountain and completely crushed 
his summer habitation. Jonah’s summer residence was a struc- 
ture composed of the skins of fishes and sea animals stretched 
over a few whale ribs. The whale ribs that served as timber in 
Jonah’s house were broken up in fragments and rendered wholly 
useless for building purposes and the skins that were stretched 
over the whale ribs were strewn down the slope of the mountain 
and some of then rolled off into the sea. The provisions that 
Jonah had on hand were scattered about in great confusion, but 
Jonah managed to find and pick up the most of them. Jonah 
moved the remains of his crushed summer residence farther down 
the mountain and rebuilt. He rebuilt his residence in a cavity 
that was made by the late collision. He stretched the skins of 
the sea animals over the cavity in such a neat and workman-like 
manner, that when he had his house completed, he admired his 
new residence more than he had admired the residence that was 
destroyed ; in fact it was a more valuable piece of property than 
the old house. Jonah’s mountain came in contact with numer- 
ous mountains that were formerly of his invincible Armada. But 
3 


34 


PATRICK O MONIGHAN, OR 


his mountain pushed them aside, without any violent or damag- 
ing crash, and made way slowly on its northeast course. When 
Jonah had passed all the mountains that Had formed his united 
and compact fleet, he began a sharp outlook to catch sight of a 
sail, for he yet hoped that he would get within hailing distance of 
some whaling vessel. And when he was not down on the ice 
shelf at the surface, spearing fish, hi was up on the shelving ice 
on the side, or on the summit, watching out over the sea for a sail. 

One time when Jonah was down on the shelving ice at the base 
of his mountain, spearing fish, the heavens suddenly darkened 
and rain fell in such torrents, and the water washed down the 
slopes of his mountain in such volumes, that Jonah thought his 
v mountain would surely evaporate before the rain would cease, for 
his foot-paths up the slopes ot his mountain became raging ca- 
nals of irresistible force, and it was utterly impossible for Jonah 
to ascend up to his summer residence ; so he took refuge under 
some shelving ice, but down so near the surface of the sea that 
the gale drove the waves in on him in such force, that it required 
his utmost exertion to hold on to his position. 

And whilst he was tormented and suffering from the dashing 
waves, and when whatever little fear there was in his mixture 
was already somewhat agitated, his troubles were multiplied by 
the appearance of a great shoal of sharks. And it is well known 
to all seamen that the shark fiends are the very worst and most 
greedy of man-eaters. 

The sharks appeared on the surface of the sea rolling on 
the tops of the waves, that dashed up against Jonah’s 
place of refuge. Jonah saw at once that the sharp-eyed sharks 
would soon discover him in his hiding place ; so Jonah thought 
that he would try and escape from the jaws of the monsters, as 
the rain appeared to be slacking and calming down, and the 
streams that rushed down the sides of the mountain he hoped to 
find passable ; so he braced himself on his whale-rib spear, 
caught hold of the shelving ice overhead, and cautiously looked 
out along the base of his mountain. But the scene that met his 
sight was anything else but cheering, for the shelving ice all 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OE OLD UlARRO. $5 

along the base of the mountain was covered with a compact line 
of hideous shark heads. The sharks h^d laid their heads up on 
the shelving ice along the base of the mountain and seemed to 
enjoy the refreshing shower very much. And the water ran down 
the slopes of the mountain in such strong currents, that Jonah 
saw no avenue of eecape from his perilous situation. So he was 
compelled to remain in his place of refuge and defend himself as 
well as he could with his whale- rib spear. Some of the sharks 
discovered him in his covert and began to take in his situation, 
and prepare to take a meal. 

The sharks were lashing the water with their tails. They 
would also open their mouths slowly and then snap their jaws to- 
gether as if in practice, and were going through a regular drill, 
and nerving themselves for the final charge on Jonah. One 
shark of prodigious size was very close on Jonah and seemed to 
be in the very act of of opening his mouth to grab Jonah. Jonah 
was however well on his guard, and prepared to receive his as- 
sailant on his , whale-rib spear, which he hoped to be able to 
thrust down the shark’s throat. But during this impending 
crisis, Jonah heard a sudden and tremendous blowing and splash- 
ing in the sea but a short distance away, and a great high wave 
came rolling upon Jonah in his place of refuge, and completely 
submerged him. But great comfort came to Jona 1 when the 
wave subsided, for the sharks had all disappeared and the rain 
had so far ceased that Jonah could leave his place of refuge with- 
out the risk of being washed into the sea and gobbled by the 
sharks. For indeed his place of refuge was barely tenable, as wave 
succeeded wave in such rapid succession that Jonah could not 
catch his breath between waves. .So Jonah came forth from his 
place of refuge and found standing room above the reach of the 
waves. Once above .the reach of the waves, Jonah looked out 
over the sea to ascertain the cause that troubled the sea, and 
after examining the troubled waters for some time, he began to 
realize the cause. A shoal of six whales were diving and frolick- 
ing about in the water but a short distance away from Jonah’s 
mountain. It appeared that the rain-storm had caused all the 


3 6 


PATRICK O'MONIGHAN, OR 


great sea animals to come to the surface, and they seemed to be 
very merry and playful. The whales came up to the base of 
Jonah’s mountain and dived down, and soon the mountain rock- 
ed about on the water pretty much the same as if it were a bag 
of wind or some light substance. Jonah at that time supposed 
that the whales were playing around the outside of his mountain, 
but soon after the whales dived down below the surface, Jonah 
heard sounds that seemed to proceed from the inside of the base 
of his mountain. But he supposed the whales were under his 
mountain, or alongside of it, as he did not at that time have any 
thought that his mountain had a bell-shaped base. 

For Jonah afterward discovered that the one great and singular 
peculiarity of his mountain was that it rested on a bell-shaped base. 

Had Jonah known that his mountain was bell-shaped, when he 
was on his summer excursion to the far south, many mysterious 
things that happened, and that were so profoundly dark to his 
mind, would have been less marvelous and wonder-working. For 
Jonah was often puzzled and surprised at the great numbers of 
the sea tribes that haunted his mountain and continually follow- 
ed along in its wake. Sometimes when Jonah would be down at 
the the base on the shelving ice, spearing fish, a great shoal of 
some of the sea tribes would become so numerous in the water 
below his feet that he would become alarmed and ascend up 
from the fishing base. Jonah did not discover this peculiar bell- 
shape of his mountain, till the sea animals, afterwards, when he was 
beached in the frozen sea, attempted to gnaw through the floor 
of his house. But he was aware that his mountain rested quite 
lightly on the water at times, and oftentimes moved up and 
down in the water as if it were composed of lighter substance 
than ice. This peculiar bell-shape of Jonah’s mountain enabled 
it to make great speed when the bell-base would get full of air 
and the wind would be favorable. No doubt the bell was often 
so full of air that the wat^r was almost excluded from the im- 
mense bell-shaped base. When the bell would get full of air, of 
course the mountain would rest on the water like a great bauble 
or bag of wind, and sail swiftly towards its northern home. 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 37 

How the air got into the bell-base of Jonah’s mountain is quite 
easy of explanation ; the huge sea-animals would of course make 
the bell-base of the mountain a resort for play, as well as a house 
of refuge. 

All the great sea animals have very expansive lungs, and as 
many of the largest species of the sea tribes would rise to the sur- 
face in the bell of Jonah’s mountain, and exhale the air from 
their lungs, Jonah’s mountain would soon become inflated by the 
sea animals in pretty much the same way that a boy- would inflate 
a bladder. 

Jonah was of the opinion that his mountain extended down 
in the sea about five hundred feet; four hundred feet of this 
water-base formed the rim of the bell. The rim of the bell was 
about one hundred feet thick, and the diameter of the bell inside 
of the hollow space was upwards of three thousand feet, so that 
the bell of Jonah’s mountain was four hundred feet deep, and 
three thousand feet wide. And in this great bell legions of the 
sea tribes would harbor. 

Although Jonah was totally ignorant of the bell-shape of his 
mountain, yet he received all the beneficial results that flowed 
from it. Had Jonah’s mountain wanted the bell, he would, in 
all probability, have suffered for food ; but as it was, his moun- 
tain was always, and even when far out in mid-ocean, surround- 
ed with shoals of the very best flavored fish, so that it was no 
trouble at all for Jonah to stand down near the surface of the 
sea, with his whale rib spear, and supply himself with all the fish 
that he could possibly use. And as Jonah’s dreary life would 
cause him much melancholly when not engaged in some manual 
exercise, he- whiled away his time in spearing fish and cording 
them up on the shelving ice on the side of the mountain. He 
was engaged at this work for some time, and going up to his 
pile of frozen fish the thought came into his mind that his fish 
would, if skilfully and artfully laid, make a very good wall. So 
he set to work to build a house of his frozen fish. The fish 
were most of them quite large, and Jonah laid them lengthwise, 
across his wall, and ere long he had a very snug house which he 


38 


PATRICK O' MONIGHAN. OR 


designed more for ornamental and temporary purposes than for 
constant use. Jonah used his fish house as a kind of a tempora- 
ry place to which he could resort to watch the motions of the 
fish and sea animals down below, for his fish-house was not more 
than twenty feet above the surface of the sea. After Jonah had 
his fish-house finished, he brought down some of the bedding 
■from his summer residence, and would occasionally, when wor- 
ried, lie down in his fish-house and take repose. It would 
appear that when Jonah’s invincible Armada broke loose from 
its moorings at the north, to make the summer excursion, that 
it carried some of the polar animals along, at least one was slain 
by Jonah that belonged to the arctic ice-regions. 

One time, when Jonah was tired, he lay down in his temporary 
fish-house, to repose, and after he had fallen into a sound slum- 
ber, he was suddenly roused by the falling of his house. His 
house fell down on him and completely covered him, and gave 
him some very bad bruises, but his injuries were not of such a 
character as to keep him from instantly springing to his feet. 
So when his house fell he was the next second on his feet, with 
his whale- rib spear in his hand. On springing to his feet, he 
instantly comprehended the cause of trouble. 

A large stemmatopus was lying on the fallen fish wall, with a 
fish in its mouth. Upon seeing Jonah rise up from the ruins of 
his house, the stemmatopus turned to slide down the sloping ice 
into the sea. But before the stemmatopus had time to turn and 
slide down the ice, Jonah plunged his whale-rib spear into its 
breast. Jonah flayed the stemmatopus, and its skin made him a 
very comfortable suit, that served him in pretty much all sorts of 
weather. The stemmatopus had made its home in some of the 
cavities of Jonah’s mountain, and had scented the fish-walls of 
Jonah’s house, and was tempted to crawl up the icy slope to 
secure a fish. 

Jonah saw no more ships after his invincible Armada ran on 
to the whaling fleet. In tact, his quarter of the sea, for some 
time after he saw. the whaling fleet, was so full of ice that it 
was all that his own all-powerful mountain could do to plow 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 


39 


through the ice-mountains and ice-hoes. Jonah’s mountain, 
after it reached the extreme southern point on its summer excur- 
sion, moved comparatively slowly for some time on its north- 
eastward course. But after it reached a clear, open channel of 
the sea, it made most excellent speed, and was soon well on its 
way to the cold;, Polar regions that surround and hedge in the 
North Pole. 

Jonah’s mountain, taking ail in all, was a good deal the worse 
for* its summer excursion, and the southern climate had worn on 
it till it looked very much like it ought to put into some Polar 
port and await repairs at the great workshop of the mighty Polar 
architect, King Frost. 


( 


chapter V. 

Exploits of Jacob Jonah on Sea. 

B IRDS are to our world what beautiful pictures and orna- 
ments are to an old mouldy, timeworn wall ^irds are na- 
ture’s own musicians, and sing the cheerful songs that give com- 
fort and hope to the disconsolate wayfarer ; birds are the only 
teachers cf all that is graceful in motion ; birds are the true 
teachers of all that is eloquent and pure in utterance. And 
happily no land on our globe, however gloomy in aspect, was 
made so poor as not to offord a resting place for birds. On the 
sandy plains of Africa, where human life fails, or takes its naked 
and repulsive forms, where vegetation grows meager, where the 
Simoon to-day piles up the shifting sands, mountain high, and to- 
morrow smooths them down again, the ostrich lives and plumes 
the world. The gyrfalcon, that looks down on all creatures with 
so much disdain, lives where the earth wears throughout all 
seasons, a changeless coat of ice and snow. Our own genial 
land affords many birds of excellent grace and plumage, and of 
enchanting song. There is none so dull in our broad land as 
not to be animated at the sight of our beautiful birds; there is 
none too dull to be attracted by the twittering of our swallows ; 
there is none too awkward in motion to admire the graceful curves 
of the night-hawk ; there is none so dead to all that is pure and 

inspiring, as not to be charmed into a sweet forgetfulness of all 

(40) 


THE HIDDEN TRE ASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 


4i 


painful thoughts, when the mocking-bird is heard to sing its 
sweet-refined lay. 

Jonah, cast away on an ice-mountain, was cheered by minister- 
ing birds, and during his summer voyage to the south, would 
often raise his eyes to admire the cheering flight of some bird as 
it would float along in the spiritual blue sky above. 

And Jonnh many times had cause to marvel at the great num- 
bers of birds that seemed to hover around his mountain, and when 
he was moving in the deep sea channel, and far beyond the 
warm, genial rays of the sun, he was still more astonished at the 
y numerous birds that mounted high up in the heavens, and disap- 
peared flying away to the still doubtful farther north. 

Jonah, during his summer excursion, was entirely separated 
from that part of his mountain that contained his winter residence 
in the old whale’s belly. 

During tffl? summer he had used a part of the mountain that 
was quite gradual in its elevation, and up and down which he 
could ascend and descend with ease. And his summer habita- 
tion on the side of his mountain was in such a position that his 
view of that part of the mountain that contained his winter resi- 
dence was completely obstructed. Some heavy rough crags of 
ice projected out between his summer haunts and habitations, 
and the door of his winter residence, so that he was unable to 
see the lively operations that were all the tinle going on at the 
door of his winter habitation. 

The base of his summer labors was at least two hundred yards 
distant at the closest point, from the door of his winter habita- 
tion in the old whale’s belly. 

When his mountain was getting well on its way back to its 
polar home and the light of the sun was declining and growing 
weak and shadowy, and the long dark night was slowly, 1 ' but 
surely coming on, Jonah thought he would see about the condi- 
tion of his winter habitation, as the time was drawing nigh, 
when he would return and establish himself in his winter 
home ; so he carelessly approached the door of his old 
winter home to which he had almost become a stranger. As 


42 


PATRICK O’ MONJGHAN, OR 


Jonah drew near his once familiar premises, he was alarmed at the 
worn, mossy and trailed paths on the ice all through his door- 
yard on the ice-shelf below, and the door, and the same paths 
continued down the slope of the mountain to the surface of the 
sea. Jonah was afraid from what he saw, that some ferocious 
and carniverous sea animal had taken possession of his winter 
residence, and of course he felt a little chary and doubtful about 
entering the door of his house till he could make himself better 
acquainted with* the circumstantial evidence, that as it appeared 
on the first face was rather ominous and forbidding. So Jonah 
drew back a few paces from the door and sat down behind a crag 
of ice that but slimly 'covered his person, and began to await 
coming events. 

The surface of the sea was one hundred feet below the door of 
Jonah’s winter residence. Jonah soon discovered that the trails 
on the ice that led down to the sea were worn t^vn several 
inches in the solid ice, and it was quite clear, as it then appeared 
to Jonah’s mind after proper observation, that the trails were 
made by sea animals that crawled up the slopes by means of their 
sharp claws. Jonah had not stood sentinel longer than a half- 
hour when he saw a very strange monster, of horrible shape, raise 
his fore-parts up above the surface of the sea, and appeared to look 
cautiously around to see if the coast was clear. Jonah peered 
around the crag that covered his person, and saw the monster's 
sharp, keen little eyes that seemed to be fixed on him. The 
monsters eyes appeared to be set far down and back deep, in his 
head. Jonah at that time did not understand the construction 
of the monstrous sea demon. When Jonah observed the mon- 
ster looking at him as he thought he felt his own heart pounding 
at his ribs as if it were trying to break through. And after the mon- 
ster raised his fore paws up and placed them on the shelving ice 
at the base, Jonah thought his heart had risen up and stuck in his 
throat, and the cold sweat oozed out at every pore of his skin, 
whilst his hair stood out from its sockets like stubble. 

This physical change that overshadowed Jonah, continued to 
thrill his very bones as the hideous ^sea-devil crawled snail like 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 


43 


up the trail to the shelving'ice below the door of Jonah’s win- v 
ter residence. Th^ shape of the monster was what stunned' Jonah. 
When the mobster reached the shelving ice below Jonah’s door, 
Jonah began to estimate his size. Jonah discovered that the mon- 
ster was of a pale green color and was about thirty feet long, and 
about four feet in diameter and possessed a single sharp horn 
that protruded out about four feet in length from the center of 
his cranium, and reminded Jonah very much of the horn of the 
unicorn, as represented by that fabulous animal in the British 
Coat of Arms. After Jonah had summed up his observations on 
the monster of the deep, he found that the monster was unlike 
anything of the sea kind that he had ever seen or even heard 
about. There was nothing on earth that Jonah could imagine 
had the least likeness to the monster that was slowly crawling up 
to the door of his winter residence. 

jonah did remember a story that ah old sailor had told him of 
the one-horned sea-devil, but Jonah had thought the story fabu- 
lous, and besides, the sea monster that was crawling up through 
his door-yard, wanted a tail, whereas the sea-dragon of the old 
sailor had a tail of immense power, which he used to lash about 
the rigging of a ship when he wished to capsize it and drag it 
down to his den in the caverns of the sea. Jonah watched the 
hideous monster as he crawled up through the door-vard of his 
winter residence, and discovered that the monster possessed very 
long legs, but were drawn up closely in sockets, and the monster 
was very cautious about making his footing sure. Jonah noticed 
that he left one of his hind legs stretched out to its full length 
behind as if to brace his body. Moreover, Jonah noticed 
that the monster was made somewhat on the prin- 
ciple of the turtle, and was using his mouth in climb- 
ing up the side of the mountain, for Jonah could hear 
the ice snap and grate as the monster laid hold of it with his 
teeth. When Jonah heard the monster grind the side of the 
mountain in his jaws, cold'chills ran through his veins and down 
his back, till he thought his blood would surely curdle and cease 
its functions. When the monster reach the shelf that extended 


44 


PATRICK O'MONIGHAN. OR 


out below the door of Jonah’s residence, he very artfully reached 
out one of his paws and caught hold of the top of the shelf, and 
then he reached out the other paw and laid it on the top of the 
shelf. After a pause of a minute, the huge monster raised his 
fore-parts upon the shelf, and this he did with apparent ease, 
which demonstrated to Jonah the great power that the monster 
possessed. When the monster had raised his fore- parts upon the 
shelving ice and was within a few paces of Jonah’s door, Jonah 
was greatly surprised to see a bird of gay and fascinating plu- 
mage come out of the door of his winter residence and dart at 
the head ot the huge monster and set up a most affecting chirp- 
ing. It had been so long since Tonah had seen anything that 
appeared so affecting and sympathetic that unbidden tears 
streamed down his cheeks, and he was so completely overcome 
with emotion as he looked with broken heart and tearful eyes on 
the heart-rending scene that he for the time-being lost sight 
of the affecting scene that was being enacted by the monster, 
and the bird. Jonah’s eyes were so over-clouded with tears, that 
he could not see anything before him, however near it might be. 
Jonah managed after some time to gain control of his feelings, 
and he wiped his tearful eyes, and was again an intelligent spec- 
tator ot the tragedy that was being performed on the very door- 
sill, 1 might say, of his winter residence. 

When Jonah wiped the tear drops away from his eyes, he saw 
the monster lying very still, and the bird was flying around dart- 
ing down at the head of the monster, and then flying away again. 
The bird continued to harrass the monster, and as the monster 
appeared to remain quiet and not to notice his assailant, the bird 
became more bold in its assaults and would dart down within a 
few feet of the monster’s head and flutter around his horn. Sud 
donly Jonah saw a black streak flash through the air, and instant- 
ly saw loose feathers float off in the air. The chirping of the 
bird had ceased, for the poor thing fell dead within a few feet of 
the monster’s head, snapped almost in twain. The noise produced 
by the monster’s jaws when they snapped arid killed the bird, 
sounded for all the world like the collision of two heavy bars of s 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 4$ 

steel. This exhibition of the monster’s power did not have any 
tendancy to allay the fears of Jonah for his own personal safety, 
and he heartdy wished himself back at his summer residence, 
which he would try and improve, so that it would answer for 
winter purposes. However,- Jonah kept his eye on the monster, 
for there was a great deal of mystery about the monster that Jo- 
nah did not yet fully comprehend. Jonah could not understand 
what the monster meant to do when he reached the door. But 
soon after Jonah saw the black streak through the air and saw the 
bird fall, the monster slowly stretched out his neck, and Jonah 
was able to see more of the monster’s peculiarities. 

Jonah discovered that the monster bad a neck about ten feet 
long and a comparatively small head, and the long, sharp horn 
protruded out between two small greenish eyes. The jaws of 
the monster were filled with double rows of teeth both above and 
below. The teeth inclined backwnrd and appeared to be very 
sharp and incisive, and about four inches long, Jonah ascer- 
tained the shape of the monster’s teeth when he reached out his 
head to get the bird, for the monster’s head faced Jonah. When 
the monster stretched out his neck from its socket he slowly 
opened his mouth and closed it on the dead bird, and then raised 
his head and neck up about ten feet in a perpendicular position, 
and after a few snaps of his steel-like jaws, swallowed the bird, 
and then drew his neck back in its socket, so there- was nothing 
visible about the head but his dangerous-looking horn. Jonah, 
with all that he had seen, yet remained in stubborn darkness in 
regard to the monster’s mode of operation. Jonah could not see 
what the monster could gain by crawling up to the door of his 
winter residence, for the monster was of such prodigious size 
that his body could not enter at the door. The most that the 
monster could do, would be to reach his long neck in at the 
door ; so with patience Jonah lay still and anxiously awaited 
further developments. So the sea-demon lay in his respective 
position, and as silent as the dead. 

When the silence was broken, it was by a scream in the heav-^ 
ens above. Jonah looked up skyward and saw three large birds 


4 6 


PA TRICK O' M ONI CHAN, OR 


circling around and viewing the scene below. They had seen 
Jonah and the sea-demon down near the door of Jonah’s winter 
residence, in which the birds had built, their nests. The birds 
circled around and drew nearer and nearer to the sea-demon, 
that had crawled up till he was very near the door. The birds 
commenced menacing the monster by darting down and flapping 
their wings and striking with their claws. 

One of the birds was of great size and uttered a scream like 
that of a cat, whenever it would dive down at the sea-demon’s 
head. Again Jonah saw the black streak flash through the air, 
and heard the sea-demon snap his jaws, and saw a cloud of loose 
feathers float off on the air, and the big bird fell dead. The sea- 
demon picked the big bird up in his mouth, stretched his neck 
out to its full length in a perpendicular position so that his nose 
pointed to the Zenith above him, and it caused Jonah’s very 
bones to ache as the sea-demon gave his jaws a few snaps on 
the* cracking bones of the bird, for when he saw the bird disap- 
pear down the sea-dragon’s long gullet, he thought it was a route 
that he would be forced to follow. The two remaining birds 
flew swiftly away when their companion came to its unfortunate 
end, and Jonah had lain in his cramped and hampered position so 
long that his limbs had become numb, as the blood had ceased 
to circulate in them, and soon after the sea-dragon devoured the 
big bird, Jonah attempted to hitch around and straighten out his 
aching limbs. He stretched out his legs and thought he would 
replace his foot on a projecting fragment of ice down below. 
But when he straightened out his leg it proved so numb and in- 
sensible, that when he placed his foot as he thought, against the 
projecting ice below, his foot proved paralyzed and useless, 
and slipped on the ice, and let his body go sliding 
down the side of the mountain. His belly was raked 
and scratched on the rough surface of the ice as he went sprawl- 
ing down the mountain, and in his fright and misery he screamed 
out at the top of his voice. 

When Jonah got himself stopped, he had slidden down -about 
thirty feet below his former position behind the crag, and as 


THE HIDDEN tREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 47 

soon as he got his body checked, and the cloud of pulverized 
jce that he had raised was so far settled that he could see the 
side of the mountain, he realized his position. On sliding down 
he had almost got on the trail of the sea-dragon. When Jonah 
realized his perilous situation, he regretted that he had not been 
lucky enough to slide down to the base of the mountain, as he 
might under sudi circumstances escape by running away on the 
shelving ice that fringed the base. There was one advantage, 
however, came to Jonah by sliding down over the rough ice on 
his belly. For when he got himself stopped in his descent, he 
found that his blood had renewed a vigorous circulation, and he 
had regained the use of his limbs. So as soon as he saw the 
iminent danger that surrounded him he made a spring to get 
away from the path of the sea-dragon. And when he had got a 
few paces away from the path, he looked up toward the door of his 
winter habitation, and to his great surprise and relief, the sea- 
dragon seemed to be greatly frightened, and had poked his head 
in the door of Jonah’s house and was using his utmost endeavors 
to crowd his body through the door. An involuntary smile 
overspread Jonah’s countenance when he saw that the powerful 
sea-dragon dreaded him. It would appear that the hideous sea,.- 
dragon had taken fright at the sound of Jonah’s voice : for Jo- 
nah uttered a wild, despairing scream, as he sprawled down the 
side of the mountain, for such was the pain that the rough 
ice caused his belly, that he thought his bowels would be torn 
out and left to hang on the knots of ice that jutted out from the 
side of the mountain. 

When Jonah saw that the sea-dragon was humping up his back 
and pushing with forty horse power to squeeze his monstrous 
body through the door, he immediately assumed the offensive, 
and involuntarily swung his whale-rib spear around to a 
charging position and stood in a bold, threatening attitude 
as if fearless of whatever issue the sea-dragon would choose to 
make. When Jonah had.recovered from the excitement that the 
turn of his affairs had caused him, he at once planned his mode 
of attack, which was to ascend above and alongside of the sea- 


PA TRICK O'MONIGHAN, OR 


4 & 

dragon and choose a vulnerable place in the sea-dragon’s flank 
or ribs, and by making a powerful thrust with his whale-rib spear 
he hoped to give the dragon a fatal wound ; so Jonah proceeded 
to carry out his plan of attack. He climbed up near the door of 
his house, in which the sea-dragon had hidden his head. But 
before he attacked he thought he would make himself safe by 
giving matters a thorough investigation ; so he stood back some 
distance from the sea-dragon and made the most startling and 
terrific outcry that his voice was capable of producing. In his' 
effort he was successful, for when he uttered his unearthly cry, 
the sea-demon humped his back and pushed with all his might to 
get through the door. The sea dragon made the pulverized ice 
fly in clouds from the side of the mountain as he raked agd 
scratched for foot- hold. Jonah saw at once that he was com- 
plete master of the fi Id, and standing back some distance from 
the sea -dragon on the shelving ice he made a violent charge on 
the sea -dragon, with his whale-rib spear, aiming at the sea-drag- 
on’s heart as he supposed. But when he charged forward and 
the point of his whale-rib spear struck the skin of the sea-drag- 
on, it bounded back and flew quite out of his hands, whilst in 
the meantime the sea-dragon uttered a roar that perplexed and 
deafened Jonah. 

Jonah examined the side of the sea-dragon again, and thought 
that he had discovered a soft, vulnerable spot and once more 
charged forward with more force than he h4d used in the first 
charge. He bent his body forward as he rushed up to the charge 
and thus gave his whale-rib spear the full benefit of his weight. 

* But when his spear struck the side of the sea-dragon, it bounded 
back as before, and Jonah’s feet slipped on the ice and he fell 
across the sea-dragon. As quick as a flash the sea-dragon made 
a spring backward to escape from Jonah. Jonah in his efforts to 
right himself got astride of the back of the sea-dragon. At the first 
spring backward, the sea-dragon drew his head out of the door of 
Jonah’s winter residence, and Jonah in his efforts to keep from fall- 
ing down the side of the mountain, grabbed the sea -dragon by 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD U7ARR0. 49 

the horn, for the sea-dragon kept his long neck and head drawn 
u.p closely in his main trunk. 

When Jonah fell astride of the sea-dragon’s back, the sea-drag- 
on made one leap backward in great fright and remained station- 
ary for a second, but when Jonah grabbed him by the horn, he 
began to back down the mountain, and uttered a roar that sound- 
ed for all tne world like the sound that proceeds from the whistle 
of a steamboat. Jonah could feel his great rough body tremble 
under him ; such was his fear of Jonah. Jonah, of course, felt 
himself in a very perplexing and awkward position, he was afraid 
for a second or so to let go of the sea-dragon’s horn, lest he 
should be hurled to destruction. All this performance, of course, 
occupied but a few seconds, and let me remind you that one can 
think of a great deal and much can be done, sometimes in so 
short a space as a few seconds. After the sea-dragon had sprung 
back from the door of Jonah’s winter habitation, he either pur- 
posely let all holds go, or else his feet slipped on the surface of 
the ice, for, with a shocking roar, he darted backward with the 
velocity of an arrow. Jonah was thrown forward with such force 
over the sea-dragon’s horn, that when his head struck the side of 
the mountain, his neck was almost dislocated, so he lay still and 
insensible for some time, with all kinds of wild deliriums throng- 
ing his brain. When he recovered sensibility, he found that his 
injuries were not mortal, but he was bleeding from his scalp, 
where he had received some very severe and ugly wounds, and 
were it not that his head-dress was a cap made of seal skin, well 
padded with fur, his skull would surely have been fractured. Jo- 
nah, as soon as his head was steady enough to keep its place, 
stood on his feet and looked down the sea-dragon’s trail to see 
what evidence was left behind, and all the way down the trail to 
the sea, Jonah counted streaks and clots of blood that issued 
from the belly of 'the sea -dragon. 

Jonah accounted for the sea-dragon’s quick movement down 
the side of the mountain, on the ground that the sea-dragon lost 
his grip on the ice, and was unable to regain it again. But how- 
ever it may have been, Jonah saw no more of the sea-dragon. 

4 


CHAPTER VI. 


Exploits of Jacob Jonah on Sea. 

S O when Jonah had vanquished the sea-dragon, and had so 
far recovered from the derangement of his brain as to be 
able to walk, he returned to his summer habitation, using his 
whale-rib spear as a staff of support. Although the shock he had 
received seemed to make all the joints in his spinal column tele- 
scope, and he felt very much like sinking under his wounds; yet 
he found consolation in the sweet spiritual balm of victory, that 
came to heal his sore flesh, and to bind up and brace his enervated 
joints. As Jonah walked back toward his summer habitation, 
he would sit down to rest his exhausted limbs, and watch the nu- 
merous birds of various species and colors, hovering around the 
door of his winter residence, and they seemed to be excited and 
to be inspecting the late field of conflict. The birds had come 
forth from the inner departments of Jonah’s house, when all had 
become quiet and serene. When Jonah reached his summer res- 
idence, he dressed and poulticed his wounds, and wrapped him- 
self up in his bed of furs and robes, and soon fell into a long sound 
slumber, from which he did not awake for many hours. And vvhilst 
he slept, he dreamt a dream, and in his dream, he thought he 
was in his own native city of Boston, and arrayed in his gorgeous 
Polar bear suit, he promenaded the principal thoroughfares of the 
city in his odd attire, and with his banjo under one arm and his 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 51 

/ 

whale -rib spear under the other, he gave an open air concert on 
one of the loafing-corners of the city, and was admired, as well as 
feared by all ; and such an impression did his odd attire and his 
musical instrument make on the populace, that they turned out 
by thousands to hear his play and song, and declared their appre- 
ciation of his merit, by loud and prolonged cheers. Jonah’s 
heart leaped with joy, when he saw how much he was admired, 
and appreciated by his fellow-citizens. 

But alas ; during the full height of all this flattering applause, 
and when Jonah begati to feel the glory of his power, a lady that 
came to witness the entertainment, screamed, and fainted at the 
sight of Jonah’s ivory teeth. For mind you, when Jonah was ar- 
rayed in the full suit of the old Polar bear, there was no outward 
evidence of his genuine manhood left. When the lady screamed , 
Jonah leaped up in his bed and was awake again, and back from 
the realms of dream-land, and lying wrapped in his robes on his 
cold and lonely. ice-mountain. It made Jonah’s heart sad, when 
he found that the sweet illusion was a dream, but a mirage of the 
mind, caused no doubt, by the severe cuts and contusions that he 
had received on his head and body, in his battle with the sea- 
dragon. 

As soon as the swollen and fevered condition of Jonah’s 
wounds would permit, he returned to examine the grounds about 
the door of his winter residence. And he was very cautious in 
the examination of his door-yard, and the old paths that led down 
to the sea. But he was well pleased to find everything just as it 
had been left after his battle with the sea-dragon ; the same old 
clots and streaks of blood that the lacerated belly of the sea-drag- 
on left on the ice, were yet visible and undisturbed, and all out- 
ward circumstances strengthened Jonah’s hope, for a well estab- 
lished, and lasting peace. 

Of course Jonah was not long in the door-yard of his winter 
residence, till he noticed birds both going away from and return- 
ing to his house. And the birds seemed to be just as well ac- 
quainted, and as much at homeas if they had been bred in Jonah’s 
house and were tenants for life. So after Jonah had examined 


52 


PATRICK O' MO NIG HAN, OR 


his premises and found that nothing more ferocious and powerful 
than birds inhabited his winter residence, he proceeded to the 
outside door, of course not expecting to find any change made by 
the birds. But when he looked in at the outside door, he was greatly 
surprised and amazed at the confused mass that met his sight 
in the upper story, and was afraid to enter till he had thoroughly 
examined the dense mass of what appeared to be the lair of some 
large and ferocious animal. So Jonah reached in with his whale-rib 
spear and tossed the confused mass about, and inspected it close- 
ly, and soon the whole was made clear to' his understanding, for 
Jonah soon saw how it was. The confused mass in the upper story 
was composed of mosses of different colors, and leaves of different 
colors, and branches of trees, and old cast-away clothing, and old 
canvas, and old ropes, and the furs and hair of different colored 
animals, together with a considerable sprinkling of hair from the 
heads of the Esquimaux, as well as bird feathers of all colors, and 
all such cast-away stuff as birds would gather for building purposes. 
For it became quite clear to Jonah that the mass of confused mat- 
ter that he tossed about with his whale-rib spear, was nothing more 
or less than the wreck and mixing together of what had original- 
ly been many separate birds’ nests. The broken shells of eggs were 
also made visible to Jonah, and that circumstance of course was 
sufficient of itself to clear up the whole mystery. 

Jonah came to the conclusion that the birds had built many 
nests in the upper story of his house, and were enjoying great 
prosperity and happiness when they were attacked and their 
nests pillaged and destroyed by the sea-dragon, that he had but 
lately vanquished. The-sea dragon in the opinion of Jonah, had 
not only totally robbed and destroyed the nests of the birds, but 
had made victims of the birds themselves, that he found sitting 
in the nests. Of course the sea-dragon left no bones, or conclu- 
sive proof of his destructive mode of warfare. For in fact he de- 
voured his victims, bones, feathefs, and all. 

And when I look at the evidence that Jonah collated, and give 
each particular circumstance its proper weight, for my own part. 

I am of the opinion that Jonah came to quite a safe and reason- 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 53 

able judgment, when it is remembered that the sea-dragon had 
a neck about ten feet long, and perhaps in a pinch for neck, he 
could squeeze twelve feet of neck through Jonah’s door, and reach 
the utmost corner of the upper story of Jonah’s house, and catch 
the birds and then ransack the nests. 

Whilst Jonah was inspecting the upper story, birds would come 
up from the basement story, and seeing him, they would drop 
back again. At first the birds no doubt thought Jonah was the 
old sea-dragon lying at the outside door, waiting for a victim. 
But they afterwards learnt better when Jonah attempted to de- 
scend below. So when Jonah had examined things to his satis- 
faction in the upper story, and became satisfied that no danger 
lurked about the premises, he proceeded to make an inspection 
of the basement story. The previous winter Jonah had a well 
constructed stairway, or more properly speaking, a ladder that 
connected the upper and lower departments of his house. This 
ladder was made of a couple of the old whale’s ribs by tying 
strips of the raw hide of the seal to them, and at the proper dis- 
tance apart, so as to serve for rounds. But the ladder Jonah 
had taken away to use for some purpose at his summer residence, 

So when Jonah reached the door that led down below to the 
\ 

basement story, he felt some inconvenience for the want of a lad- 
der, and so he sat down in the door and looked down be- 
low, and meditated for some time in his own mind, how he 
should reach the floor of the basement, and what might be the 
consequences when he would have reached the floor. 

Finally he thought the safest way would be to lay his whale- 
rib spear across the door and swing himself down, as he thought 
he would be able to reach the floor with his feet, whilst at the 
same time he could hold on to his spear with his hands, so that 
he would be prepared in case of an attack, to leap instantly back 
to the upper story. So when the plan of procedure was ma- 
tured in his mind, he laid his whale-rib spear across the entrance 
that led down below, and swung himself down, expecting to 
reach the floor with his feet. But when he swung himself down, 
his feet failed to find anything to stand on, so he let himself down 


54 


PATRICK O' MONIGHAN, OR 


as far as possible and stretched out his toes, thinking that he might 
be able to tip-toe the floor, but he failed to touch the floor. 
So he swung himself backwards and forwards for a few 
seconds meditating whether to let go his spear and drop down on 
the floor, or to draw himself up again to the upper story. Jonah, 
however, on this occasion, did not have long to think what course 
would be most preferable. For after he had swung backwards 
and forwards a few times, he felt something peck at his feet. Jo- 
nah, of course knew that it was the peck of a bird, and carelessly 
kicked out his foot without fear, and shooed at the bird. The 
very instant that he cried out “ shoo,” a tremendous drumming 
of wings succeeded, and accompanied, too, with all conceivable 
screams and screeches, and too wits, and too-woos, and snap- 
pings of bills, and rattlings of claws, and instantly Jonah found 
his suspended body assailed, and pecked, and flapped, and 
scratched, till he thought the birds would tearevery ounce of flesh 
from his bones. His raw hide seal skin suit, which was both 
strong and elastic, was soon torn into shreds and tatters, and his 
own skin would very soon have been been reduced to tatters, 
were it not that with a super-human effort, he succeeded in rais- 
ing his body up, and he tore the birds loose as he forced his 
body through the door, and into the upper story. 

Once above, Jonah succeeded in checking the assault of his 
enemies, which seemed very eager to pursue him. But once in 
the upper story, he wheeled and with his whale-rib spear, suc- 
ceeded in knocking his assailants down as fast as they would rise 
to the door, and in the course of an hour or so, the birds became 
pacified and the most of them settled down in their nests. 

The birds in the course of the summer had greatly enlarged 
Jonah’s house, for the whale in whose belly he had made his 
home, was at least one hundred feet long and the birds had de- 
vouVed the whale to such an extent that there was nothing left 
but her head and tail, and the skeleton of her body. So you will 
readily understand how the birds enlarged Jonah’s winter resi- 
dence. The birds had enlarged Jonah’s house till the basement 
story was about eighty feet long, and about ten feet from floor 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 5 $ 

to ceiling, and about twelve feet from side to side. When Jo- 
nah thought that the wrath of the birds was settled, and that he 
could make a safe retreat, he cautiously withdrew from the door 
that connected the upper and lower stories. 

When Jonah reached the outside of his house, and made sure 
that he would not be pursued, he beat a hasty, but sudden re- 
treat back to his summer habitation, and there changed his 
clothes, for his seal-skin suit was a total loss so far as raimant for 
his body was concerned, and when he had undressed he found 
that his body was very badly scratched, but happily the wounds 
inflicted by the birds were not disabling. 

When Jonah had changed his clothes, and oiled his wounds, 
the poignant feelings that come of defeat, began to disturb his 
mind. It would be very embarrassing to Jonah to meet with de- 
feat under any combination of circumstances. But defeat and 
expulsion from his own house was more than Jonah had set down 
in the calendar of probabilities. In fact Jonah felt that he had been 
outwitted and was very nervous and perplexed, and sat down and 
devoted many hours to deep and silent reflections trying to evolve 
a plan from his mind that would enable him to regain his lo3t 
possessions. After much reflection, Jonah smiled one of those 
happy smiles that always lit up his countenance when a happy 
thought came across his mind. For he had at last evolved a plan 
that he confidently believed would gain the day. His plan was 
to don his Polar bear robe, that incased his person so complete- 
ly, and through which the claws and bills of the birds could not 
penetrate, if indeed they would have the courage to come near 
his bear-like person at all, and thus prepared he would arm him- 
self with his whale-rib spear and station himself at the outside 
door of his winter residence, and as a bird would protrude its 
head preperatory to its flight off over the sea in search of food he 
would cunningly strike from his ambush and break the ’bird’s neck 
So after Jonah had this plan well matured in his mind, he pro- 
ceeded to give it fruition. 

So arrayed in his Polar bear robe and armed with his whale- 
rib spear, he concealed himself near the outside door of his win* 


56 


PA TRICK O' MONIGHAN, OR 


ter residence, and awaited the forth-coming birds. He was not 
long in his ambush, when a large bird came to the outside door 
to take wing and protruded its head. Jonah instantly struck 
with such force that the velocity of his spear was of such electric 
action that it cut the head off the bird as smoothly and with as 
much apparent ease, as if the bird’s neck had been stretched 
across a block and the head cut off with the blade of an ax. The 
severed head of the bird went sizzling down the side of the moun- 
tain, and struck the surface of the sea. The beheaded bird 
proved to be a very large one, and flounced around in the upper 
story of Jonah’s house, and made such a peculiar noise with his 
severed wind-pipe that Jonah became alarmed at the peculiar ac- 
tions and sounds that proceeded from the dying bird, and 
was at one time on the point of retreat, as there seemed to be 
something so supernatural about the utterances and movement of 
the beheaded bird .as to cause Jonah to lose his original pur- 
pose to slay the inhabitants of his house. But when he thought 
of the near approach of the long, cold, dark winter, his courage 
was renewed, and he renewed the carnage with a more deter- 
mined purpose than before, 

Jonah kept his spear in a striking attitude, and pretty soon the 
beheaded bird, flopped around in the upper story till it reached 
the door that led down below into the basement story, and down 
into the basement the beheaded bird went flopping and scratch- 
ing, and uttering very peculiar sounds through its severed wind- 
pipe. This proceeding, of course, alarmed the birds down be- 
low in the basement story, and they came darting out, all trying to 
escape at once from the lower story, and they came to the outside 
door in such rapid succession, that Jonah could not meet the full 
demands as headsman. But he exerted himself to his utmost 
strength and vigilance and until he had either beheaded or brok- 
en the necks of some two or three hundred birds, and his arms 
began to .ache and falter, and some of the birds were making 
their escape. Jonah, seeing that he must change base, or his vic- 
tory would not be so complete as he would choose to make it, 
changed position, and sat down in the door till he could rest and 


The hidden TREASURE of old uzarro . 


57 


recuperate the exhausted strength of his arms. Of course when 
he sat down in the door and lent back so his shoulders rested 
against the sides of the door, the door was completely closed, for 
it would be well to bear in mind that Jonah’s Polar bear robe 
gave him a predigious size. When Jonah sat down in the out- 
side door, £he birds pecked and scratched at his back, but their 
efforts were harmless as they could not penetrate the thick fur 
and skin of his Polar bear robe. 

When Jonah was recuperated, he again took his position as 
headsman, and commenced his destructive warfare and continued 
it for many hours, and until he had slain the last bird that was 
in his house, with the exception of a fe^v that escaped through 
the outside door, and ^ome that were too small to notice. When 
Jonah was engaged in the siege, many birds that were on the 
outside would come to get in, but when they would witness the 
battle for a short time and see the heads of their friends bouncing 
down the side of the mountain, they would sail swiftly away. 

When Jonah had finished his destructive warfare, his door- 
yard presented a very curious spectacle indeed. All the way 
down from the door to the surface of the sea, birds’ heads were 
strewn, and such curious looking heads as they were. It was their 
variety, I presume, that made all of them appear so odd ; some 
of them had bills at least two feet long. Some had great, powerful 
hooked bills, that made Jonah tremble and marvel, at his escape 
from their clutches. The mountain for rods down the slope was 
red with blood, and bore evidence of a mighty conflict. When 
Jonah had finished his carnage, he went around on the side of 
the mountain to his summer residence, and got his house-hold 
goods, and removed back to his winter residence in the old 
whale’s belly. 

But before he went to work to flay, or pick the feathers of his 
dead fowls, curiosity led him to examine some of the nests of the 
birds. They appeared to be very strange in construction, as well 
as the material of which they were composed. And what would 
you suppose some of these peculiar nests were composed of? 
Moss, you would answer, of course, because you saw that moss 


58 PA TRICK O'MON/GHAN, OR 

was a large element in the nests that were built in the upper story. 
Well it is true that there was some moss together with a great 
deal of Esquimaux hair and Esquimaux garments. 

But these ingredients were but small factors in the general 
compound of the nests. Upon the inspection of the first nest, 
Jonah found some kind of a woven fabric that caused .him much 
reflection. He had never seen anything like it before. It was 
taken from no shipwreck that was certain, for Jonah was well 
posted about everything that belonged to a wrecked ship. It 
was of. a kind of a golden greenish tint. But upon the examina- 
tion of the next nest, he met with something more wonderful ; 
for it contained a manuscript, very nicely written, but in a lan- 
guage so unfamiliar with anything of a litefary nature that Jonah 
had ever seen, that in his curious amazement, he gazed at the 
manuscript till he was almost blind. He examined another nest 
and found a pen holder and ‘pen, and of the neatest and most 
exquisite workmanship, and so on the most wonderful mysteries 
were disclosed as Jonah continued his examination. 

When he was through with the examination, he sat down and ' 
began to reflect over the wonders of the birds nests. But there 
was but one slight clue to the mysteries and that was that the 
course of the birds that built the most remarkable nests was invari- 
ably from the north. This far Jonah could go with the mysteries, 
but no further. So after much conjecture that resulted in a 
bare and vague surmise, Jonah fell to work to pick the feathers 
off the dead fowls. 

When he had his first bird stripped of its feathers, he opened 
it and somehow out of curiosity he opened its craw to see what 
kind of food the bird fed on. And lo! and behold, out dropped 
a diamond ring from the craw of the bird. Jonah put thp ring 
on his finger like anybody would do under the circumstances. 
He climbed up to the summit of the mountain to take one good 
observing look toward the North Pole where he imagined all 
these mysteries came from. And after looking for some time in 
the direction of the Pole, which he conceived could not be far 
off, he saw a large ice-field floating down towards hrs mountain, 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 5 § 

and when he saw the ice-field floating down toward his mountain, 
he turned his attention to it, and observed it very closely. And 
when the ice-field drew near, Tonah discovered that an old she 
Polar bear and two cubs were aboard of the floating ice. Almost 
the first thought that crossed Jonah’s mind was how he would like 
to have the cubs for pets. They would constitute such a source 
of cheerfulness for him in his lonely and dark winter hours. 

But how to secure the cubs, there was the difficulty. The old 
bear would watch and protect them so well, that Jonah would be 
unable to steal them away from her. But he had just previous- 
ly improved his whale-rib spear, so that it was a very effective 
weapon, and if he could get a fair prod at the belly of the old 
she bear, he thought he would be able to slay her and afterwards 
put himself in possession of her two cubs. 

No quicker did this bold thought come across his mind than 
did he proceed to carry it into practice. So h^ went down to 
his house and dressed himself in his great Polar bear robe, and 
then looked at himself and smiled to think of his similar Polar 
bear likeness. He laced himself up after he had taken some 
feathers and furs and stuffed in between his person and his robe 
in order to give himself a smooth and bear -like appearance. 

Then he took some of the flesh of a bird and his whale-rib 
spear and started out to meet the old bear on the floating ice- 
field, which by this time had floated down and joined itself to 
Jonah’s mountain. When some distance from the old she bear 
he got down on his hands and feet and walked towards her 
and indeed, from outward appearances, it would be diffi- 
cult to tell the difference between him and the old she bear. 
When he got up near the old she bear and her cubs, he began 
to growl, and when the old she bear and her cubs approached 
he pretended to turn and retreat, at the same time he dropped 
his piece of bird flesh that he had taken along to interest the old 
she bear. The old she bear scented the flesh and ran up growl- 
ing and grabbed it. Then Jonah rose on his hind feet, 
bear-like and pretended to strike at the old she bear with his 
paws. The old she bear flew into a great rage and stood up on 


60 Patrick o'monighan. or 

her hind pav^s to meet the attack of another bear as she sup- 
posed, and Jonah instantly plunged his whale-rib spear into her 
belly. The old she bear gave a deep growl in despair, and fell 
down and almost instantly expired. Then Jo'nah caught one of 
the cubs which was of considerable size, but almost famished 
with hunger, and carried it despite its snarling and snapping, 
and put it down in the lower story of his winter residence, and 
let it help itself to the dead fowls. He then went back to the 
ice-field and got the other cub and put it down in the basement 
with its mate. Then Jonah, when he had the cubs secure, went 
out on the ice-field and flayed the old she bear just as he had 
flayed the old bear that attacked him in his house, and dressed 
the robe in the same way, so that now he had two Polar bear 
suits, one for summer and one for winter. Of course Jonah cut 
the old bear up and carefully suspended her meat from the back- 
bone of the whale. 

After he had the old bear flayed and her meat carefully carried 
home and swung from the back-bone of the old whale, he fell 
to work again on his dead fowls. And I assure you, he had 
work enough for some time to take off the feathers, or to flay off 
the skins of the birds ; for some of them were of a very prodi- 
gious size, weighing as much as one hundred and twenty pounds, 
avoirdupois. 


\ 








CHAPTER VII. 


Exploits of Jacob Jonah on Sea. 

A H, the colors of the birds were what would have most inter- 
ested you. There were birds of a dark red color and birds 
of a bright red color, and birds of every shade of those colors ; 
there were oirds of a dark blue color and birds of a sky blue col- 
or, and birds of every shade of those colors ; there were birds 
of a dark green color, and birds of a light green color, and birds 
of every shade of those colors ; there were birds of a dark yellow 
color, and birds of a bright yellow color, and birds ofevery shade 
of those colors ; there were birds of a dark brown color, and 
* birds of a light brown color, and birds of every shade of those 
colors ; there were birds of a dark grey color, and birds of a 
light grey color, and birds of every shade of those colors ; there 
were birds of a dark dove color, and birds of a light dove color, 
and birds of every shade of those colors. Some were whiter than 
the snow of their own native land, and some were, raven black, 
and some were striped and mottled, and some were speckled, 
and each speck was of the deepest dye of its own color. 

Jonah told me his wealth in fashionable plumes, at the lowest 
value that he could conscientiously place on fine fashionable 
plumes, if he could have had his plumes in any fashionable circle 
on earth, would have been one million dollars. There were 
bushels of eggs too, lying about on the floor of Jonah’s house, 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 


62 


and the eggs were of as much variety in color, shape, and size, 
as the birds that laid them ; but unfortunately, the eggs were 
all addled and unfit for anything but ornamenal purposes. So 
Jonah gave those shells that were remarkable for size, color, or 
form, great ornamental value, by fancifully suspending them 
from the ribs and backbone of the old whale, and the beautiful 
shells gave her monstrous and old smoky bones quite a pleasing 
and reverse aspect. 

When Jonah had ornamented the old whale’s bones with the 
egg shells, he stood in the front of his dwelling, and looked at 
the suspended shells, and he was so well pleased with the orna- 
mental and animated appearance that the shells gave the bones 
of the old whale, that he really felt proud of the improvement 
that his handiwork, in arranging the shells, made. 

And the ornamental idea was fully developed, and expanded 
in his mind, when he saw the beautiful effects of the shells. So 
Jonah took the beautiful plumes of the birds and worked and 
wove them into all kinds of imaginable ornamental figures. He 
worked, wove, and knitted them into the figures of the birds of 
the air, of fishes of the sea, of beasts of the field, of flowers of 
the valley, of branches and leaves of the trees, of ships at sea, 
of children, of men, of women, of angels, and everything of a 
pleasing form that his imagination* could design, and that his 
skillful hands could construct. 

All these fantastic and artful figures Jonah worked and wove 
around the old whale’s bones. And when he had filled the 
measure of his imagination, and everything about his residence 
was clothed and draped in rich, gaudy, and ornamental colors, 
he sat down to view his work of art, and to see what was left 
undone and imperfect, and such was the powerful influence that 
the Spiritual scenery of the plumes had on his mind, when he 
beheld their finely contrasted hues, that' he lay down on his 
back, and clapped his hands, and gave vent to the pent up feel- 
ings of his animated soul in shouts of glory and joy. 

The pet Polar bears ran to his side when they saw his demon- 
strations of happiness, and when they understood the source of 


\ 


63 PATRICK O' MONIGHA N, OR 

his delight they were wonder-struck. Yes, indeed, even Jonah’s 
pet Polar bears sat down on their haunches, and gazed for hours 
on the sublime spectacle that the plumed appearance of the old 
whale’s belly presented. 

It would appear that Jonah’s mountain had gleaned the sea of 
all the birds that chanced to come within the circuit of its ex- 
tended voyage to the South. Jonah was of the opinion that 
the distance over which his mountain had sailed during the 
summer exceeded four thousand miles, and when a bird would 
see his mountain it would fly to the mountain to rest. The birds 
oftentimes, no doubt, thought that Jonah’s mountain was land, 
and many were driven to his mountain that were lost in the fog, 
and were in distress and found his mountain a very safe and sub- 
stantial ark of safety. Some birds would perhaps come out of 
curiosity. And when the birds would light down on Jonah’s 
mountain, from whatever cause, they would see the smoked, worn, 
and earthy appearance of the mountain about the door of his 
winter residence, and of course it would be quite natural 
for the birds to approach that quarter of Jonah’s mountain. Once 
the birds would get in sight of the door, they would enter his 
residence, and finding the rich and well flavored carcass of 
the old whale, they would commence to feed on it and thus being 
at once provided with both shelter and food, the birds would of 
course remain undisturbed possessions of Jonah’s home. 

Jonah was pretty well educated in the science of ornithology 
and knew how to classify birds and to what climate and land to 
assign the various species of birds that he found in his winter res- 
idence, and he made the dead birds a subject of deep study. 

Some of the birds belonged to the tropical climates, some to • 
temperate climates, and some to arctic climates. But many of 
the birds belonged to some undiscovered land. The bird that 
held the diamond ring in its craw was evidently an inhabitant of 
some unknown country. And the woven fabrics that Jonah found 
in the nests were in his opinion manufactured by a race of peo- 
ple unknown to us, and to the same unknown race did Jonah at- 
tribute the pen holder and pen. All these mysterious evidences 


■ 1 


6 4 


PATRICK O' MO NIG HA N, OR 


of things so wonderful and marvelous, and so far beyond Jonah’s 
comprehension and scientific investigations, and so far from af- 
fording any light by comparison with all or anything that Jonah 
had ever seen and investigated, caused him much philosophical 
study. 

So Jonah settled on a determination to spend much of his time 
during the following summer in prospecting for that goal that so 
many ambitious men have striven to reach — namely, the North 
Pole. Jonah’s mountain could not have been south ofthe sixtieth 
degree of north latitude, during his summer voyage to the South, 
and how so many birds of tropical, or even moderately temper- 
ate climates found a home in the old whale’s belly that was so 
pleasant and agreeable to them, was more than the scientific and 
analyzing mind of Jonah could solve. And I may as well state 
right here that it is not the purpose of this narrative to discuss 
facts for argument sake, and try to make everything appear 
as plain as light itself, that may appear as knotty and 
difficult to unravel. For I have no doubt that many skeptical 
land lubbers will find chronicled events in thi§ narrative that 
they will consider supernatural and overdrawn. But 1 shall not 
bother my mind about unbelievers. Let it suffice to say that 
the birds were there. 

After Jonah had used all the finest of the plumes and wings in 
decorating his residence in the old whale’s belly, he took the re- 
mainder of the plumes and made two immense feather beds, one 
for himself and one for his pet Polar bears. And when Jonah had 
his feather beds prepared, he and his Polar pets spent considera- 
ble time in sweet repose in their beds. And after awhile when Jo- 
nah was recuperated and ready for active service, he strung up 
his old banjo that had remained unused all summer in the old 
whale’s belly. And when Jonah found his banjo it was turned 
topsy-turvy in the bottom of a bird’s nest and full of eggs. When 
Jonah had his banjo repaired and strung up in good trim, he 
would sing and play and his entertainments of course, were more 
cheerful than they had been the previous winter, as he had a 
very attentive audience in the persons of his two amiable Polar 


THE HIDDEN TEE AS UR E OF OLD UZARRO. 65 

pet bears. When Jonah would sing his inspiring songs in com- 
pany with the soothing melodies that would arise frorn his ban- 
jo, his Polar pets would roll and romp and offer many manifes- 
tations of their pleasure, Jonah, observing the soothing and ton- 
ing influences that his music had over the naturally ferocious 
natures of his Polar pets, would spend much of his time 
in play and song. He invented many new reels and jigs in 
which he instructed his tractable Polar pets. He soon had 
his Polar pets so well educated that they would go through all 
the figures of the dances that he marked out for them, with much 
graceful bearing and ease of manner. 

When all of these events that I have chronicled, and many 
more, too, had come to pass, Jonaffs mountain had reached the 
coldest icy seas and the gloomy pall of night had fallen over the 
icy world, and Jonah supposed that his mountain had reached the 
highest latitude that it could possibly reach that winter, as the ice- 
fields had become so dense that the most of the time the surface 
of the sea was almost wholly covered with ice, and so thick that 
Jonah’s mountain would at times lie still in the embrace of the 
ice-fields. Jonah had already made some very extensive hunt- 
ing excursions over the heavy floes of ice that floated up and 
connected with his mountain. In fact Jonah had already consid- 
ered himself in winter quarters, and was beginning to put his 
house in order and to make things as comfortable as his cramp- 
ed means would allow. His stock of winter provisions were 
ample to last both him and his Polar pets during the long, dark 
winter for he had upwards of five thousand pounds of fish all 
snugly piled up in the rear end of his house. He had also about 
two thousand pounds of seal beef, and something like fifteen hun- 
dred pounds of smoked Polar bear meat. All these provisions, 
and perhaps more, Jonah had on hand. 

So Jonah gave himself no uneasiness about his future necessary 
wants, but set himself to work to manufacture articles that would 
add to the comforts of his household. He had all the orna- 
ments in the plumes of the birds that a queen on her throne could 
desire. And as his ornaments came in rather irregular order after 
5 


66 


PATRICK O' MONIGHAN, OR 


he had his necessary supplies, it was quite natural that he should 
fill up the missing link between the necessaries and ornaments 
with what would be useful. So Jonah made several articles of 
use. He made an easy chair out of Polar bear bones and seal- 
skin, and the chair gave his house a very domestic and comfort- 
able appearance. 

He would often sit in his easy' chair, and cross his legs and in 
his deep reflection, try to pry into his future prospects, and 
would make out sometimes in his fancy that he could foresee 
forthcoming events. He would often sit in his easy chair and 
play his banjo, and sing for the entertainment of his pet Polar 
bears. Jonah made other pieces of useful furniture and house- 
hold goods. He made a tabte and a bedstead on the same prin- 
ciple and style of mechanism of his easy chair, Jonah also made 
a very neat life preserver out of a small seal skin. He made a 
very neat bag out of the seal skin, and left a small hole to which 
he could apply his mouth and fill his seal skin bag with air from 
his lungs. After he had his seal skin life preserver ready for 
service, he kept it inflated and suspended from the back bone of 
the old whale, so that it would be ready in case of an emergency. 

When Jonah had made all that he thought would add to his 
comfort, he tuned up his banjo and turned his attention to his 
pet Polar bears and opened out a regular training school for them. 
One time when he was sitting in his easy chair playing on his 
banjo and giving instructive orders to his Polar pets, his moun- 
tain suddenly lurched over on one side and threw him out 
of his easy chair. 

When Jonah was thrown from his easy chair, and his music, and 
voice hushed, he was made aware that a howling hurricane from 
the southeast had struck his mountain. And such was the 
roaring of the storm and sea as Jonah’s mountain flowed through 
the dense and compact ice-fields, that he gave up all hope, and 
his ambitious designs all took wing, and he was left amid the 
rolling icy sea without a future prospect, or a consoling hope of 
the future. So high did the billows rise, that his outside 
door was submerged, and the water came rushing down on * 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 67 

him but it proved of no consequence as but one wave reached 
his door. When the water came trickling down in the base- 
ment, Jonah grabbed his life preserver as the last thing of sup- 
port on the stormy billows. He managed to fasten it about his 
arms and legs and stretched himself out on his back and stiffened 
his limbs, so that his lurching mountain could not turn him over. 
He managed to keep on his back for some time expecting every 
instant that his mountain would fall down in pieces. But his 
mountain made a sudden lurch that threw him over on the other 
side of his house, and in falling he came down flat on his belly, 
and with such force that he exploded his seal skin life-preserver, 
or bag of wind would be as good a name perhaps. The rent 
through which the gaseous and vapory air escaped from the 
seal skin was immediately beneath Jonah’s chin, and the suffo- 
cating air that at one time vitalized his own breast, came now in 
turn and almost blew his head off. And so sudden and paraly- 
ing was the effect of the explosion, that Jonah rolled around on 
the floor for a spell quite benumbed and insensible, and when 
he did recover his presence of mind, some of his limbs were yet 
useless. And as soon as he was recovered from the effects of the 
concussion, he rolled himself in his feather bed and went rolling 
around on the floor of his house pretty much like a barrel, and 
thus saved himself from many hard knocks from his own house; 
hold goods that were flying in dangerous confusion. 

The dried hunks of bear meat that were suspended from the 
back-bone of the old whale were hard and dry, and when they 
broke loose from their fastenings, they went flying through Jo- 
nah’s house, and striking against the walls like so many cannon 
balls, and Jonah was of the opinion that he would have been fa- 
tally injured were it not that his feather bed proved such an in- 
vulnerable shield. 

When Jonah had rolled around on his floor, incased in his 
feather bed for a time as long as two hours his mountain ceased 
its lurchings, but continued to fly before the wind, with lightning 
velocity, I may say, stretching a point a little in regard to speed, to 
get in expressive figurative language. For Jonah’s mountain had 


68 


PATRICK O'MONIGHAN, OR 


run entirely clear of the ice-fields and was sailing before the 
howling tempest. When Jonah’s mountain had sailed before 
the wind for a time as long as twenty-four hours, it suddenly came 
to a full stop, and after the storm, Jonah went out of doors to 
view his situation, and facing the north and looking away to his 
left, and as far as the darkness would permit, he could see white 
snow-clad plains, and to his right was an open sea Which he after- 
wards discovered was a narrow channel not more than ten miles 
wide. But great was his surprise when he ascended high up his 
mountain and found that during the storm full six hundred feet 
of his towering mountain had separated from its base below and 
fallen into the sea, and left his great mountain but a stump of 
its former self ; so that the summit of his mountain was now a 
broad, smooth surface, at least fifteen hundred feet in either 
length or breadth, and Jonah spent some time in learning his 
new surroundings, and wherever he would go about his mountain 
he was accompanied by his pet Polar bears. 


\ 




CHAPTER VIII. 


Exploits of Jacob Jonah on Sea. 

OW Jonah named his Polar pets, and he named them well 



1 ^1 enough; he called one Walrus and the other Seal. Walrus 
soon learned and loved his name, and when Jonah would stand 
on his mountain summit, and pronounce, in audible, tone the fa- 
miliar name of his Polar pet, Walrus, although he might„be lying 
in wait for a prey, would bound up the steep declivities 
of the mountain side and caress Jonah in his great 
rough paws. Seal was of a more delicate frame, but was 
lithe and strong withal. Her attachment for Jonah was strong, so 
strong, indeed, that she was jealous of her mate, and when Walrus 
would fondle Jonah with a lick of his soft, silky tongue, Seal 
would sometimes threaten him with a growl. Walrus and Seal 
soon grew up to be not only strong and powerful, but creatures 
of grace and beauty as well. 

When Jonah found that his mountain was permanently and se- 
curely anchored in its new port, he repaired his household goods 
and replaced everything as well as he could. But the storm had 
made sad havoc among the shells that decorated the old whale’s 
back-bone. In fact the frail shells were completely demolished, 
and were seen no more only in small fragments scattered about 
over the floor. But the gay and fascinating plumes, whilst they 


(69) 


70 


PATRICK O'MONIGHAN, OR 


were more or less damaged, still retained their old, pleasing lus- 
tre, and Jonah replaced them so that the old monstrous back- 
bone of the whale was entirely obscured from sight. Jonah had 
been in his new port but a short time till Walrus and Seal 
developed their strong natural proclivities to fish and hunt 
for the seals along the open channel of the sea. Walrus 
and Seal would go out alone, and in a few hours they 
would return to Jonah with a large fish, or a seal, or some 
of the sea animals that would come within the range of their 
hunt, and in this way Walrus and Seal soon had an im- 
mense pile of provisions collected in the old whale’s belly. 
So Jonah soon found that he was living in lordly independence, 
for he no longer had to depend- on the somewhat uncertain re- 
sults of his whale-rib spear ; but he had now reached a degree of 
prosperity and affluence that would allow him to sit down in his 
easy chair and invent and work out schemes to put into practice 
the following summer. Jonah also spent much of his time, and 
spent it very pleasantly too, in training his Polar pets, Walrus 
and Seal. Jonah was ambitious to bring his Polar pets in such 
an instructive school, that when they grew up to full bear-hood, 
they would understand and obey all his advisable orders and 
commands; and thus Jonah hoped to train his Polar pets, till 
they would be serviceable to him in all his undertakings. 

In fact, after Walrus and Seal developed such a wonderful ca- 
pacity for catching seals, Jonah caught himself growing into 
habits of indolence, for he would lie down on his feather bed, 
and roll and yawn for hours, when he would not feel in the least 
sleepy or tired. But let it be said to the glory of Jonah, that he 
soon broke up his indolent habit of yawning and lounging in 
bed, for he at once opened up a new branch of industry. 

He took the bones of the fowls that he had slain, and made 
many rude musical instruments on plans quite original. He made 
many musical instruments, all of which displayed considerable 
mechanical skill. But I have place to give note to but 
one of the musical instruments that Jonah made out of the 
bones of the birds. And this instrument that I here make place 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 


7i 


for was quite a strange piece of mechanism, and displayed the 
mechanical genius of the inventor. 

You can the better judge of the powers of this wonderful in- 
strument, when I tell you that when Jonah blew a blast on it, 
that the sound that proceeded from it could be heard, when the 
weather was calm, at a distance of five miles, whilst at the same 
time that the music was loud, it was neither dismal nor ear-split- 
ting ; indeed, there was nothing harsh or disagreeable in the 
sound ; but on the other hand the music that this remarkable 
instrument gave forth, was quite mournful and sodthing to the 
mind, and had a tendency to make one feel melancholly and tear- 
ful. And when I tell you that the name of this wonderful musi- 
cal instrument was “ Jonah’s Polar-bear-o-net.” I am sure that 
you will say that it was a very appropriate name. Walrus and 
Seal, it would seem, appreciated it above everything else musi-^ 
cal, except the voice of Jonah. And when Walrus and Seal would 
go off over the ice-fields to hunt, and leave Jonah alone in the 
old whale’s belly, he would sometimes think that he was alone 
long enough, or that his Polar pets were going too far away, and 
he would ascend up to the smooth plain that now formed the 
summit of his mountain, and there he would first call his 
Polar pets in a very loud voice two or three times, so that if 
they .were anywhere about the base of his mountain, 
they would come bounding to his arms ; but if his Polar pets 
were beyond the sound of his voice, he would place his Polar- 
bear-o-net to his mouth and blow one long blast, and soon he 
would hear his dear Walrus and Seal coming home over the ice 
at full speed. 

The effect that Jonah’s Polar-bear-o-net had on the inhabi- 
tants of the ice regions was indeed remarkable, and I think it 
worthy of a passing notice. The first time that Jonah stood on 
the flat summit of his mountain and blew a blast on his Polar- 
bear-o-net, it created a profound alarm among all the Polar bears, 
seals, and walruses, and in short among all the inhabitants of the 
ice. Of course the inhabitants of the ice had never heard any- 
thing that made a sound like the bear-o-net, and so the oldest 


72 


PA TRICK O' M0N1GHAN, OR 


Polar bear or walrus might well take alarm. So when Jonah blew 
his blast, and took his instrument down from his lips, he could 
hear great scratching, climbing and tumbling, and he could hear 
the sea animals running over the ice-fields in all directions, and 
could hear those that were near the open channel of the sea 
plunge into the sea with frightful violence. You see that the 
sound of Jonah’s Polar-bear-o-net echoed along through the deep 
revines and canons of the ice, and created sounds that were at 
once appalling. 

In order t© show you the full importance of Jonah’s Polar- 
bear-o-net, I will mention one special instance in which it proved 
more servicable than a well manned battery of artillery. One 
time Jonah heard a frightful snarling and growling away off to 
the west of his mountain on the ice-plains and he instantly com- 
prehended the matter. Walrus and Seal had been attacked by 
several powerful old Polar bears. Jonah at once armed himself 
with his knife, whale-rib spear, whetstone, and Polar-bear-o-net, 
and hastened on to the field of action. When he came near 
enough to see what should be his mode of attack, he halted and 
blew a blast on his Polar-bear-o-net, thinking that Walrus and 
Seal would retreat to him when they heard the familiar sound of 
the Polar-bear-o-net, and then he would be able to receive their 
assailants on his whale -rib spear, when they would come dashing 
up in pursuit. 

But matters took a very different turn from that expected by 
Jonah, for when he blew the blast on his Polar-bear-o-net, the 
wild Polar bears that were in the act of destoying Walrus and 
Seal, took to precipitate flight, and Jonah and his Polar pets 
pursued for some distance but were unable to come up with the 
enemy. Jonah had become so inured to the cold that he could 
stand out of doors, or chase over the ice-plains in a compara- 
tively light suit, and his second winter in the old whale’s belly 
may be set down as a winter of repeated victories and prosperity 
as well as a winter of pleasure and song, without any severe ac- 
cident or cause for alarm. 

At one time Jonah was somewhat alarmed at what afterwards 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 


73 


became his pleasure : He was employed, I think he said, in mak- 
ing some kind of a curious whistle from the bone of a bird, when 
he and his Polar pets were startled by what would under ordinary 
circumstances be understood to be the report of thunder. But 
the first impression of Jonah was that some of the ice-mountains 
had exploded and caused the report. But his own mountain be- 
gan to rock and reel about on the bosom of the sea the same as 
if it were but a very light craft. 

This caused Jonah to get up and go out of doors and witness 
the phenomenon. When he was outside he saw at once that there 
was an unusual light shed abroad over the heavens, and he knew 
that the unusial light did not proceed from Aurora Borealis 
with which he was very familiar ; so he and his pet Polar bears 
went up to the flat summit of his mountain to investigate the 
cause. When they reached the summit of the mountain, they 
witnessed a scene that was grand and sublime. 

For, far away in the north, and far beyond an all eternity of 
snow plains and ice-mountains, some old volcano that slept away 
his glory of ten-thousand years ago, had opened his crater, and 
belched forth afresh. And just when Jonah and his Polar pets 
were about to sit down and contemplate the grand scene before 
them they saw something descending from the sky ; it sparkled 
in the light shed abroad over the ice world ; it descended and 
passed into the open channel of the sea, just grazing the base of 
Jonah’s mountain. It was an immense fragment of ice that had 
been blown up by the explosion of the volcano; and was just 
coming back to its icy home again. When Jonah and his pet 
Polar bears had gazed their fill at the ascending flames and lava 
of the mighty volcano hundreds of miles away, they descended 
back to their home in the old whale’s belly. The sight of the 
grand upheavel that Jonah had witnessed filled his mind with a 
thousand wonders. How at that very time he would like to sit 
on an adjoining^mountain to witness and to learn something of 
the grand scene. He took the diamond ring from his finger that 
he had found in the craw of the bird, and examined it again, 


74 


PA TRICK O'MONIGHAN, OR 


to find the initials of some sweet girl’s name that lived in a land 
of genial clime, far beyond the ice-plains and ice-mountains. 

Now and then during the long winter night, the old volcano 
would light up the ice world, and these illuminations would 
often make Jonah wish in his very heart that he had a boat that 
he could use as a sledge. For if he were so empowered, he would 
make seal-skin harness, hitch up his two gentle Polar pets, and 
over the open channels he would sail, and over the ice-plains 
and ice-mountains he would pleasantly glide along, drawn by his 
two amiable Polar pets ; and thus he hoped to reach the land of 
the diamond ring. 

As time wore the winter away, Jonah became more and more 
ambitious to set out in search of the mysterious and unknown 
land. But when ambitious spells would cause his breast to heave 
and pant for fame and glory, the thought of his sole means of op- 
eration would come athwart his mind, for his sole means to car- 
ry out his ambitious schemes were a whale-rib spear, a knife of 
comparatively mean and confined dimentions, and a whetstone, 
and the thought of his cramped and confined means, would cause 
his ambition to melt away in grief, and his heart to heave its 
deepest sighs,. and his eyes to trickle with tears. 

But as the daylight of summer approached, he began to sift his 
genius for a knowledge that would surmount the towering and stu- 
pendous difficulties that lay between him and the land of the 
diamond ring. 


CHAPTER IX. 


Exploits of Jacob Jonah on Sea. 

T he second Polar night that Jonah lived in the old whale’s 
belly passed cheerfully away and left many pleasing mem- 
ories behind. It had been a night of pleasure and plenty, and 
throughout its dark and dreary hours, Jonah had found oppor- 
tunity to improve his grasping mind. He had invented the Po- 
lar-bear-o-net, whose sweet and mellifluous tones Walrus and Seal 
loved to hear so well. He had sat in his easy chair and made 
out his future course, and the cold, dark, winter hours were often 
whiled away in music and song ; so that when the long winter 
night began to give way to the dawning daylight of summer, 
Jonah felt that he had passed the winter at a grand frolic, such 
had been his festive life in the old whale’s belly during the long 
winter night. 

When the winter was spent and the sun began to light the daz- 
zling icy peaks, Jonah and his Polar pets, Walrus and Seal, as- 
cended up to the broad summit of their mountain. Although Jo- 
nah had spent his winter in ease and comfort, his heart was made 
glad and hopeful when he beheld the gorgeous and brilliant sun- 
rise of the second summer. The imagination is too faint to con- 
vey in words, or to conceive in the colors of a painting, expres- 
sions that would fairly give even a passable idea of the glorious 
rising of that sun that had been buried in a cold icy sea of dark- 


7 6 


PA TRICK O' M ONIGHAN, OR 


ness for months, when he arose grandly above the distant daz- 
zling icy peaks. As the sun arose, Jonah and Walrus and Seal 
would go up on th£ smooth summit of their mountain to get in 
the morning rays of the sun, and Walrus and Seal would roll and 
play till Jonah would sometimes think that they would' surely 
lose their wits. Such was their ecstatic delight when the glisten- 
ing ice wore the golden hues of the rising sun. Walrus and Seal 
lost all drowsiness, and would not go into the old whale’s belly 
only when they wanted to fondle and caress their dear and affec- 
tionate master. 

When the sun had clearly lighted up Jonah’s ioy world, he 
stood on the summit of his mountain and viewed and studied 
his surroundings. And away off to the west, and as far as the 
eye could see there was an unbroken surface of snow covered ice- 
fields and lofty mountains, some of which were snow-capped, and 
others were glazed with glistening coats of ice. On the east 
there was an open channel as tranquil, calm, and free from ob- 
struction, as any forest embowered lake. This channel of the 
sea was not more than ten miles in width, and beyond the chan- 
nel steep and high mountains glistened in the rays of the sun. 

And as far to the north and as far to the south as sight could go, 
eternal ice-plains and ice-mountains met his view. All, all, was 
ice except the clear, open channel at the base of Jonah’s moun- 
tain. One side of his mountain rested on what appeared at that 
time to be a solid ice formation, and constituted the western 
shore of the open channel. Jonah at that time thought that he 
had reached a latitude not many degrees south of the Pole, and 
that the open channel of the sea that lay at the base of his moun- 
tain extended to some unknown land. 

Of course Jonah did not expect to see any sea adventurers; he 
never as much as looked away off to the south, in the open chan- 
nel, to catch sight of a sail. He knew that he had been drifted 
up an open channel of the sea that the mortal eyes of a sailor had 
never seen, and he could only hope to discover a land that would 
afford him a resting place and perhaps a home. Jonah was not dis- 
satisfied with his immediate living and pursuits, nor were his fu- 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 


77 


ture prospects at all gloomy ; in fact he considered his prospects 
good, and he had passed such a pleasant winter, that he felt like 
spending the remainder of his life in the old whale’s belly. 

But after all he was afraid that events would transpire over 
which he had no control. In the first place some huge moun- 
tain of ice, just manufactured by the frost, and better clad than 
his own, might come sailing through the channel and run on to 
his mountain and demolish it, for he knew that it was old and 
shaky, or it was liable to generate gas within itself and explode 
or fall down in pieces on account of old age. 

Jonah had balanced and weighed all these remote probabili- 
ties, and had given up all hope of reaching his old home in Bos- 
ton, so he turned all his energies and thoughts in search of the 
land of the diamond ring, for early in the summer Jonah could 
see birds of beauty far above the icy peaks winging their way 
northward' to some land they loved. When Jonah would witness 
the flight of the birds, he would often look at his diamond ring 
and sigh as he thought of the fair owner that lived north and 
beyond the regions of perpetual ice and snow. 

So Jonah and his Polar pets, Walrus and Seal, during the sum- 
mer made many long and perilous prospecting tours up toward 
the Pole and along the open sea channel. On one of these tours, 
Jonah came well-nigh losing his life. The dangerous accident 
happened in this wise. Jonah and his pets, Walrus and Seal, had 
been off to the north along the open channel, and Jonah had ex- 
posed and exhausted his’ strength in many efforts to discover 
land. He had scaled the most lofty peaks in company with his 
Polar pets, and from the highest summits looked and looked 
away to the north till he was overcome with fatigue and was thus 
returning home in an exhausted physical state, when to his great 
fear and trouble, he found that the ice -fields over which he had 
traveled, and between him and his home, had separated and left 
an intervening channel of at least eighty rods in width between 
him and his home, and his home was yet many miles away. 

Now you know that the water is very cold in that country, even 

in summer time. But Jonah had but one course to pursue. There 


78 


PATRICK O' MONIGHAN, OR 


was no room for reflection, the channel was growing wider and 
wider all the time ; so he jumped right into the cold, open sea, 
and swam for the icy shore, on the other side. Walrus and 
Seal plunged in right after him, and all three swam abreast. But 
by the time that all three reached midway, Jonah was some dis- 
tance in the lead and making telling strokes for shore. But all 
at once Jonah was seized with a terrible and painful contraction 
in his abdomen, and his legs were benumbed and paralyzed by 
the painful stroke in his bowels, and his legs began to feel as no 
part of himself and failed to answer to the calls of his will, and 
his sight began to grow dim and shadowy, and he was in the very 
act of fainting away and going down to the bottom of the sea, 
when noble Walrus came swimming by his side, and Jonah was 
just able to reach out his faint and palsied hand and catch noble 
Walrus by his elegant and fine coat, and in a hopeful effort Jonah 
managed to get astride of his back, and noble Walrus swam gal- 
lantly to the icy shore bearing his affectionate master. 


When Walrus reached the solid icy shore, he continued right 
on to their home in the old whale’s belly. While the abdomen 
of Jonah still writhed with pain, and when Walrus had almost 
arrived at their own door bearing his precious burden, Jonah all 
ofla sudden found himself exclaiming, “ I’ve found it,” “I’ve 
found it.” This exclamation of “ I’ve found it,” “ I’ve found 
it,” within itself meant nothing. In the first place Jonah might 
have meant nothing at all in regard to his future prospects, and 
again the ejaculation might have proceeded from a crazed state of 


Jonah’s mind, caused by his painful, inflamed, and writhing bow- 
els. But the exclamation did mean something. Indeed it meant 
a great deal ; practically, it meant more than any utterance that 
ever before fell from the lips of man. 

Jonah meant by the exclamation, “I’ve found it,” “ I’ve found 
it,” that he had found his way to that genial land, that at that 
time he supposed to be flowing with milk and honey, and that 
he supposed too, was inhabited by the North Pole, and a race of 
people a good deal like ourselves. Jonah had always loved his 
dear pet Walrus ; indeed, he was a kind and affectionate com- 


79 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 

panion. But till now Jbnah had never regarded him as a beast 
of burden. 

When Jonah arrived at home, he renewed the oil in his lamp, 
and made a good strong cup of bone tea, and after hanging his 
socks up before the lamp to dry, he bathed his feet before the 
flame, and drank his tea, which seemed to relieve his bowels very 
much indeed. Jonah would look over in the corner every once 
and a while, as he sipped his tea, where Walrus sat as if he 
would like to do something for Walrus that was beyond his 
power — some great act of loving kindness. Jonah was in- 
deed very happy that he had been so fortunate as to discov- 
er a means that would assist him in reaching the land of 
the diamond ring. He had been spending his time in traveling 
bn foot and climbing up to the summits of ice -mountains, and 
looking away off to the north for a land where he expected to 
find a people far advanced in the arts and sciences, who would 
treat him with hospitality. So after Jonah made the discovery 
that Walrus was a beast of burden and very sure-footed among 
icy-glazed mountains, he determined at once to put his dear pet 
Walrus into training, so as to be prepared early the next sum- 
mer to start on an expedition to the North Pole, as it is technic- 
ally expressed. To begin with, he rode Walrus over the smooth 
ice-plains for some time without regard to speed. But afterwards 
he cultivated the speed of his Polar pet, till his pet could run 
with astonishing rapidity. TJien he practiced for a long time in 
climbing the Inountains, and then steep places that were almost 
perpendicular, so that before the sun set and the long winter 
night set in, Walrus had attained a standard of perfection that 
pleased Jonah, and he now only awaited the passing of another 
dark, Polar night in the old whale’s belly. For he thought that 
his Polar pets would have attained their full growth and strength 
by the time another summer rolled around. 


CHAPTER X. 


Exploits of Jacob Jonah on Sea. 


T T is as well without adding trivial intervening distant matter 
J- to observe that the sun of the second summer set, and the 
third winter that Jonah lived in the old whale’s belly came on, 
and bore as its fruits ten thousand horrors, and what had hither- 
to been the peaceful and happy abode of Jonah was transformed 
into a pandemonium, fit only for the habitation of devils. 

All through the preceeding summer and winter, Jonah had 
thoughtlessly, without regard to remote probabilities, thrown his 


offal out of his door. This offal which was the entrails, and some- 
times the entire carcasses of animals that he slew, found its way 
down to the base of the mountain and into the sea, and there was 
devoured by the fishes and sea animals, and the many hideous 
monsters of the sea with which the arctic regions abound. 

In the early part of the winter, Jonah prepared to take his 
comfort and so well he might, for he had an ample store of all 
the necessary food on hand for his own use, as well as for the use 
of his Polar pets, Walrus and Seal. So it was not necessary for 
Jonah to hunt only when he would seek relaxation from the mo- 
notony of indoor life ; of course he would sometimes want a fresh 
fish or a fresh seal, but it would not be necessary at all that Jo- 
nah should expose his person, for Walrus and Seal would be led 

by their own natural and life-preserving instincts, to go out of 

(80) 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 


81 


doors to fish and to seal hunt. So Jonah had made up his mind 
to take his comfort, and to pass the winter by him as pleasantly 
and profitably as he could in his confined means. He expected 
that by the time that the sun would rise on another summer, that 
his Polar pets, Walrus and Seal, would have attained their 
growth, or would at any rate, be capable to endure the necessary 
hardships incident to an expedition to the North Pole. As Wal- 
rus and Seal were about two years old, and large and well fed, 
Jonah had little to fear from his means of transit across the ice 
to the Pole. Jonah, of course, expected to ride upon the back 
of Walrus, and intended to make a carrier, or a kind of pack- 
mule as it were, of Seal. He expected Seal to carry the provi- 
sions and camp equipage. 

So with such promising prospects of the future, Jonah put his 
house in order for the winter. He adjusted the ornaments that 
decorated the backbone of the old whale, and repaired his house- 
hold goods, and improved his easy chair in which he expected 
to sit and while away the dark hours of the long, Polar night at 
play and song, and in giving Walrus and Seal advisable instruct- 
ions. In the early part of the winter, everything took its due turn 
and passed off as pleasantly as could be expected, and the cheery 
notes of Jonah's banjo, and Polar-bear-o-net could be heard by 
the ice-bound creatures of the sea for miles away. 

In tfie early part ot the winter, Jonah and his Polar pets, Wal- 
rus and Seal, would go up on the smooth level summit of their 
mountain to frolic and to play. Jonah had been exposed to 
seve.re cold so long that he had acquired the iron-clad nature of 
a Polar bear, and when he and his Polar pets would go up on 
the summit of the mountain to romp and to play, he would dress 
very lightly, and even in his light dress when he would play leap- 
frog, or hide-and-seek, or any exciting and blood-stirring game 
with his Polar pets, he would soon become so fatiguedthat he 
would be compelled to return back to his home in the old whale’s 
belly, in a hot and perspiring state of body. So Jonah passed 
the early part of the third winter, and had, taking all in all, a 
very good and cheerful time. 


82 


PATRICK O MO NIG HAN, OR 


Jonah said that he would sometimes find himself laughing 
outright, when he would be riding his pet Walrus up the steep 
declivities of his mountain, fcq- the thought of his odd appear- 
ance would frequently come across his mind, and he would think 
how odd and laughable he must appear, could he be seen by the 
citizens of Boston when he was astride of his Polar pet, and ar- 
rayed in his seal skin dress, and playing his Polar-bear-o-net, and 
his amiable Polar pet, Seal, trotting along in the rear. 

But alas ! right in the midst of all these fond and glowing 
hopes of future prosperity, a blighting and binsting storm arose 
from the bottomless caverns of the ice-bound world. A storm, 
too, that not only destroyed the happiness of Jonah’s household, 
but overshadowed and darkened his future prospects, and even 
menaced his temporal salvation. 

When the dark winter night had worn along about a month, 
and all was as quiet and serene as could be expected, and Jonah 
was refreshing his soul on the green but palatable fruits of his 
future career, he was surprised at some very peculiar and strange 
drumming sounds that he heard, and with which he was not at 
all familiar. 

These peculiar drumming sounds were at once set down by 
Jonah as sounds that proceeded from the throats of some of the 
hideous sea-monsters, whose Acquaintance he had not yet made. 
These sounds at first appeared to proceed from below the surface 
of the sea, and down below the base of Jonah’s mountain. Of 
course at first the sounds merely excited Jonah’s curiosity, and 
as he was of a very philosophical and investigatingturn of mind, 
he simply accorded the peculiar drumming sounds a share of his 
attention on the score that he might be enabled to add a new 
discovery to his scientific store of learning. 

These peculiar drumming sounds appeared to draw nearer and 
nearer and louder and louder. But of course there was nothing 
dangerous or threatening in all this, only that Jonah’s mind be- 
came very sorely perplexed when he found that he could net 
trace the sounds to any animal that would have a settled shape 
and figure in his mind, for in his fancy he would imagine that 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. % 83 

the authors of the drumming sounds were first of one shape and 
then again of another shape and figure, and so on, and the more 
he thought on the confounding subject, the more his mind wax- 
ed in perplexing, doubts. He was aware that the sounds when 
fitst heard were down below in the caverns at the bottom of the 
sea, and had come up to the surface, for he could hear the same 
sounds away off to the west of his mountain on the ice-plains, 
and occasionally the sounds could be heard up on the slopes of 
his own mountain, so Jonah began his investigation. He called 
the attention of Walrus and Seal to the peculiar drumming 
sounds, and the Polar pets were soon as deeply interested as their 
master Jonah, and went out of doors of their own free will. But 
they were out of doors but a short time till they came running 
back home at the top of their speed in great fright, and bolted 
through the outside door, and darted down into the basement 
story to Jonah. Now Jonah was made aware that danger lurked 
withoutt and he prepared to face it in Bis own peculiar and cool 
manner. 

He took his Polar-bear-o-net that proved so effectual in driv- 
ing all living creatures away from his home the previous winter, 
and with his whale-rib spear well in hand, and Walrus and Seal 
at his heels, he ascended up to the broad, smooth summit of his 
mountain. When he reached the summit, he placed his 
Polar-bear-o-net to his mouth and blew one loud and 
thrilling and resounding blast that echoed and re-echoed 
along the icy canons for miles away, and before the 
sound had entirely died away, a huge monster had crawled up 
on that side of the mountain that overhung the open sea, for Jo- 
nah was apprised of the near approach of the monster by a terri - 
ble gnashing of teeth. When the monster gnashed his teeth, 
Walrus and Seal fairly flew down the mountain slope to their 
home in the old whale’s belly. It would seem that Walrus and 
Seal knew from instinct that in flight was their only safety. 

And I hope that Jonah will not be considered as wanting in 
courage, when it is made my duty to observe that he soon fol- 
lowed after his Polar pets. When Jonah reached his castle, he 


8 4 


PA TRICK O' MONIGHAN, OR 


remained there for some time, but in a very perturbed and agi- 
tated mood of mind. It was impossible for one of Jonah’s na- 
ture to take any pleasure or comfort till he could make out what 
kind of animals produced the peculiar drumming sounds. Ac- 
cordingly he once more prepared to sally forth and ascertain 
the exact nature of the monsters at which his Polar pets, Walrus 
and Seal, stood in such terrible dread. 

So after Jonah took satisfactory note of the sounds that he 
could hear away off on the ice-plains to the west of his mountain, 
he set out hoping to meet with better luck this time. Walrus and 
Seal kept close up in his rear, and he was soon convinced that 
the farther he advanced out over the dark plains, the more dis- 
tinct and interesting the sounds had become. When he was 
about a half mile away from his castle he stopped to listen and I 
suppose if possible to catch a glimpse of the wonder-working 
monsters ; at least by stopping he could get a more distinct 
hearing. But he did not stand or wait long before he w r as sud- 
denly surprised in his rear by what would appear to be the snap- 
ping of teeth. The time was unusually dark, neither the moon 
nor the aurora borealis shed the least twinkling of light, and Jo- 
nah, in his deep anxiety and perplexity of mind, undertook to 
get a sight of the monster that was snapping his teeth in the rear. 
And so he turned and walked back in the direction whence the 
snapping could at short intervals be heard. When he had walked 
back some distance, he got down on his hands and feet, and with 
his whale-rib spear well in hand he cautiously felt his way through 
the darkness. Every once and awhile the monster would snap 
his teeth, and then grind them in the most horrible manner. It 
caused Jonah some little fear when it became apparent that the 
monster was following along on the scent of his tracks. So Jo- 
nah, after crawling along on his back tracks some twenty or thirty 
rods, stopped and quietly lay down on his belly. It was well 
enough for him that he stopped when he did, for he had not 
spread out on his belly more than a second when the monster 
snapped his teeth and at the same time shed the most lurid, 
brilliant, and bewildering lightning from his immense eye-balls, 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 


85 


that Jonah ever witnessed. This lightning from the monster’s 
e ye-balls was succeeded by a sharp peal of thunder. 

When the monster flashed fire from his eye-balls, Jonah saw 
him open his immense jaws, revealing at once a most horrid set 
of teeth. The monster had flashed his light, no doubt, to get 
the position of Jonah, and Jonah was indeed near enough the 
monster’s jaws to be taken in the next instant. But Jonah never 
quailed before an enemy, nor lost his presence of mind. So no 
sooner had the fire-dragon opened his jaws to take him in, than 
he instantly thrust his whale-rib spear down the fire-dragon’s 
throat, thus taking advantage of the fire-dragon’s own light that 
he had created for his own especial benefit. 

The fire-dragon closed his jaws on Jonah’s whale-rib spear with 
such a terrible snap that Jonah was so shocked that he felt as 
though he had been struck by by lightning or severely shocked 
by a powerful Galvanic battery. His fingers were so dinned and be- 
numbed, that he for an instant thought they had been snapped 
off by the fire-dragon. However Jonah was left the good use of 
his able and lithe legs which he called into full requisition in 
hastening his departure from the fire-dragon. 

In his rapid flight back to his home in the old whale’s belly, 
he occasionally shed some seal-skin garment in order to 
accelerate his motion. When Jonah and his Polar pets, Walrus 
and Seal, were safely within the old whale’s belly, he hastened 
to defend his fire-side. For he was made aware that a whole le- 
gion of fire-dragons were in hot pursuit. 

He snatched up a whale-rib spear and stationed himself at the 
outside door. But luckily for Jonah, the outside door was too 
small, and when the fire-dragons rushed up the side of the moun- 
tain in pursuit of Jonah, they charged in rapid successson on the 
door and tried to force their huge bodies through the door. But 
they conld barely manage to get the lean end of their noses 
through the door, such was their prodigious size. 

Jonah put his wits to work to expel the fire-dragons from his 
door. He thought he would try fire on the lean trunks that the 
fire-dragons reached in through the outside door. So going down 


/ 


86 


PATRICK O' MONIGHAN , OR 


to the basement story of his house he stirred up the fire, for he 
was using bones saturated with oil for fuel, and stuck a piece of 
fat blubber on the end of his whale-rib spear, and when it was all 
ablaze he ascended up to the upper story, and when he reached 
the upper story he saw the huge trunk or nose of the fire-dragon 
protruded through the door from the outside, and a very ugly- 
looking trunk it was indeed. 

Jonah at once applied the burning flame to the monster’s 
nose or trunk, whereupon the fire-dragon uttered a terrible roar, 
and in his rage emitted fire and smoke from his eyes, and rushed 
down the slope of Jonah’s mountain and disappeared. Jonah 
repeated this skillful and fiery operation a few times on others 
that put their trunks through the door, and the whole legion of 
fire-dragons soon disappeared. He made a bone lamp and hung 
it up at the outside entrance in the upper story. This lamp Jo- 
nah kept burning for along time, and it had, it would seem, a 
most excellent and happy effect in behalf of Jonah, for the 
wierd fire-dragons did not molest him any more. 

Jonah was of the opinion that the offal from his house and the 
carcasses that he had left strewn about his premises attracted the 
fire-dragons that gave him such a close chase; for from the entrails 
that he cast out of his door together .with dead animals of 
various species lying promiscuously about, his quarters for some 
distance around away, convey the impression that he car- 
ried on quite an extensive slaughter house. 

After the attack of the fire-dragons Jonah was not alarmed by 
anything dangerous for some time and he had become quite easy 
and comfortable, and was beginning to mature his plans in regard 
to his contemplated expedition to the North Pole. 



CHAPTER XI. 


Exploits of Jacob Jonah on Sea. 


HE naturally pacific state of Jonah’s mind was more easily 



l disturbed and set in motion ever after his encounter with 
the fire-dragon. In fact the narrow escape that he made when 
the fire -dragon swallowed his whale-rib spear and benumbed his 
fingers, preyed on his mind even when sound asleep, and the 
glaring eyeballs of the fire- dragon would appear to him in his sleep 
and bewilder his mind, and throw him into a chronic nightmare, 
that would burden and oppress his soul with many lonesome, im- 
aginary thoughts. 

About a fortnight after the fire-dragons disappeared, as nearly 
as Jonah could reckon the time, for it was night all the time, 
and he had neither calendar nor time-piece, he heard a very 
strange, roaring sound, that seemed to be some distance off in the 
open channel of the sea, and down below the surface. The roar- 
ing drew nearer and louder, and Jonah was soon able to recog- 
nize the sound to be the blowing of a whale. 

The sound produced by the whale as he blew his great horn, 
sounded for all the world like the blowing of a very large steam 
whistle under the water. It would seem that the blowing whale 
had scented the whale, in whose belly Jonah was so comfortably 
housed. For the whale swam up near Jonah’s castle, and blew 
his horn most angrily as it would appear. The whale came up 


(87) 


88 PATRICK O' MONIGHAN, OR 

near Jonah’s mountain and lashed the water with his tail till the 
mountain shook like a leaf in the wind. When Jonah recognized 
his cause of alarm to be a whale, his mind settled down to its 
usual calm state. Since he had been assailed by the fire-dragons, 
his mind took fright at anything that would seem to indicate their 
return. 

But a new army of besiegers came up out of the sea that were 
not so easily baffled by Jonah. In fact all his skill and strategy 
were of little avail. The new and unseen besiegers began oper- 
ations in about one week after the appearance of the whale before 
his castle. * Jonah was astonished at what appeared to be 
the gnawing of some sea aninal down under the floor of his house. 
He listened very attentively, and was fully convinced that some 
animal of a knowing nature, was trying to gnaw a hole through 
his floor. 

This. alarmed Jonah very much, for, till that time he had sup- 
posed that the floor of his house was four hundred or five 
hundred feet in thickness, and of solid .crystal ice. 
Now he was convinced that there was a hole leading up from the 
bottom, or else that his mountain was bell-shaped, and the floor 
was not so thick and invulnerable as he had supposed it to be. 
He went out of his house and descended down to the base of his 
mountain to learn something about the imminent dangers* that 
seemed to beset his castle. When he got down near the level of 
the open channel of the sea,*' he heard a frightful gnawing that 
appeared to be inside of the base of his castle. 

It seemed that a thousand gnawers were engaged in gnawing 
through his floor. At this time Jonah' knew that the winter 
was well nigh gone, and if he would be able to hold out against 
his enemies for the space of about four weeks that day would ap- 
pear, and all the animals of the deep would cease to molest him 
as they would go off and seek the quiet caverns of the deep sea. 
The sea animals are shy in the day-time, and can scarcely ever 
be seen above the surface of the water. So Jonah went back into 
his house and took a whale-rib spear, and commenced to thump 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 


89 


on the floor of his house by striking the butt end of his whale- 
rib spear oh the floor. 

This proceeding checked the gnawing animals for some time, 
but just as soon as Jonah would quit thumping on the floor with 
the butt end of his whale-rib spear, the gnawers would com- 
mence again. So there Jonah stood on the floor for what would' 
be hour after hour, and day after day, with his whale-rib spear in 
his hands, thump, thump, thump, till his whale-rib spear galled 
and blistered his hands, and until his arms were entirely given 
out. He would often exclaim in his tired and depressed state of 
body and mind, “ O ! that the morrow would come!” “ O ! that 
the morrow would come !” Yet the morrow that Jonah longed 
to see might be weeks and weeks away. He meant by the excla- 
mation, “ O ! that the morrow would come !” when the sun would 
rise after a long Polar winter and dispell the long Polar 
night. So one^ time when he was standing thumping 
on the floor of his house with his whale-rib spear, to 
frighten away the animals that were trying to gnaw through his 
floor, he suddenly struck something that appeared to be a woody 
substance. He had worn, you must know, quite a hole down in 
his floor by his continuous thumping. He cleaned away the pul- 
verized ice, and to his utter amazement, the woody substance 
proved to be the out-croppings of a large boat — Jonah trembled 
with surprise and excitement. 

How could it be possible that there was a boat frozen up in 
the ice under the old whale’s belly? But as astonding as was the 
fact, yet it was no less true. So Jonah set to work to dig the 
boat up out of the ice. And it gave his heart so much life to 
think that he was about to possess a means of traversing the ice- 
bound seas, that although it took a long time to get the boat clear 
of the ice, he did not tire with the exertion ; in fact the labor 
strengthened and nerved him up. And when he had the boat 
clear of the ice, he felt that he was prepared to live in the 
icy world, for there she was, high and dry, a great big life-pre- 
serving boat, together with two splendid oars in her. 

When Jonah had his boat clear of the ice, he turned around 


9 o PA TRICK O’MONIGHAA , OR 

and looked at his amiable pet, Walrus, that was sitting in one cor- 
ner of the castle. He then looked at his boat and laughed heart- 
ily outright, as his original plan to ride Walrus to the North Pole 
was at an end. Walrus looked a little more innocent than usual 
and no doubt felt humiliated. 

The discovery was just to the hand of Jonah. A boat was the 
soul of his every scheme. Now, instead of making poor Walrus 
carry him all the way over the slippery ice to the North Pole, 
he would make a seal skin harness, hitch up his Polar pets, Wal- 
rus and Seal, and drive over the icy mountains in good .style. 
And when he came to an open channel of the sea, all three 
would ride, whilst he would be able to propel the boat along with 
the oars. 

When Jonah got his boat clear of the ice, there seemed to be 
so many gnawing animals under his house that the whole moun- 
tain seemed to be going through some grinding process. And 
all the devices that Jonah could think of would not check the 
gnawers that were pulverizing his mountain. So when he had his 
boat removed, there was quite a deep place left, and Jonah rais- 
ed up his whale-rib spear and struck it down in the bottom of the 
hole from which the boat had been raised. 

And to his surprise the whale-rib spear went crashing down 
through the soft, rotten, mushy ice, and went quite out of hear- 
ing. Jonah was now convinced that his mountain had become 
brash and rotten. When Jonah’s whale-rib spear sunk down 
through his mountain, it left quite a hole, and Jonah, when he 
recovered from his surprise, took lighted fagots and let them drop 
down below, and the gnawing animals were so frightened at the 
sight of the blazing fagots that they hastened away from his 
mountain, and Jonah was left in peace once more. 

Jonah’s great fear was that when the gnawers would make a 
hole through his floor, that the water would be forced up through 
his floor and spoil all his household goods. But when he saw 
how dry everything appeared down in the base, he was again 
made happy. 


CHAPTER XII. 


Exploits of Jacob Jonah on Sea, 

S O Jonah was made very happy by his discovery of a boat 
which above all else was of most practical utility to him, 
and in fact, a boat was the only auxiliary that could be of any 
worth in the ice-bound world. H.e had also, in unicing the boat, 
made the very remarkable discovery that his mountain was hol- 
low, or bell-shaped in the base. 

When Jonah struck the butt end of his spear down on the 
bottom of the cavity that was made by the unicing of the boat, 
the spear went crashing down through the old, dry, honey-combed 
ice, that the sea animals had made full of holes and inroads, and 
at first Jonah thought that his spear had but penetrated to some 
comparatively small aperture or hole that had been made by 
some of the sea animals that had been trying to gnaw through 
the floor of his castle. Jonah of course felt as if something more 
than usual had transpired when his whale-rib spear went rattling 
down through the dry and brash foundation of his castle, and he 
stood back from the mysterious hole in a perplexed state of mind. 
As soon, however, as he recalled his presence of mind, he called 
Walrus and Seal to his side, and there all three companions stood 
and watched down in the pit below, and awaited full develop- 
ments. 

When Jonah dropped his whale-rfb spear down through the 

.(91) 


92 


PATRICK O'MONIGHAN, OR 


base of his castle, all the gnawing animals ceased their operations 
for some timq, But as soon as all became quiet and serene, they re- 
newed their gnawing seige of destruction which, if they had been 
allowed to carry on but a little while longer, would surely have 
resulted in the complete unflooring and destruction of the castle, 
and perhaps Jonah, Walrus and Seal would all, or at least some 
of them, have been killed by falling through their own floor to the 
solid surface, hundreds of feet below. When Jonah threw the 
blazing fagots down the hole made by his whale-rib spear, he 
heard a frightful scrambling and getting away, as if many ani- 
mals were frightened and trying to escape from some imminent 
danger, and all the gnawing beseigers ceased at once. Jonah 
thought that his blazing fagots fell to the bottom of some cavity 
not far below his house, or, if they reached the surface below, tnat 
they fell into the open sea channel under the base of his moun- 
tain. But upon looking down, to his surprise, he could see the 
fagots still blazing and shedding a brilliant and dazzling light. 
He was now made aware that the blazing fagots had fallen down 
on a comparatively dry base. So he continued to throw blazing 
fagots down the way that his whale-rib spear went, and after a 
thorough examination he found out that his castle was hollow in 
the butt, or to use more precise language, he found that his cas- 
tle had a bell-shaped base. Jonah continued to throw blazing 
fagots down below, seeing the happy effect that that easily devised 
means had in keeping away the destroyers of his castle. 

When Jonah had expelled the besiegers from his castle, he 
set earnestly to work and made all the necessary preparations for 
his departure to the North Pole. His chief interest was in pre- 
paring seal skin harness for his Polar pets, Walrus and Seal. He 
dressed his Polar pets in strong and durable harness, and made 
his pets allow their harness to remain strapped around them all 
the time. The Polar pets at first evinced some reluctance and 
distaste for their new fangled dress, and would occasionally take 
hold of the elastic seal skin straps and try to break them with 
their teeth, and attempt to pull off the annoying straps. But 
Jonah’s kind instruction soon taught his Polar pets to admire 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 


93 


their new dress, and in a little while both Walrus and Seal would 
come fondling up to Jonah to be dressed up with the broad and 
elastic straps that Jonah had made for traveling purposes.. 

When Jonah had Walrus and Seal dressed in seal skin har- 
ness, he made provision for his own person. He prepared a 
traveling suit for his personal comfort, which would withstand the 
severest and coldest Polar blasts. Of course it was not much of 
a task to make a traveling suit, for he had all the necessary parts 
at hand. He put seal skin lining in his great Polar bear robe, 
and then took one of his large feather beds and ripped it open, 
and took the feathers and stuffed them in between the seal skin 
lining and the Polar bear robe, till the robe was at least a foot 
thick, and so stiff that it would stand alone, and appeared at a 
short distance off like an overgrown Polar bear. The other Polar 
bear robe he did not line and pad, but rolled it up in as 
small a bulk as possible, and packed it away to use in warm 
weather. Then he took the fine plumes that .decorated the old 
whale’s backbone, and bedecked his boat from stem to stern, and 
she was, when all arrayed in the fascinating plumes of the birds, 
as brilliant and live-looking a boat as ever set bottom on the sea. 
When he had his boat all arrayed and was ready to abandon his 
home in the old whale’s belly, daylight appeared, and before the 
sun arose, he went out to inspect his old rickety castle, which had 
became quite shaky and infirm, and he found great holes had 
been made all through the thick ice-walls by the sea animals, 
and great pieces of the side had fallen down on account of old 
age. Jonah went in through one of the openings in the side of 
his castle, and then for the first time he beheld with astonished 
eyes the peculiar construction of the castle that had been his 
home for two years and six months. He saw how the gnawing 
besiegers had scratched hoiesall through the thick honey-combed 
rim of the great bell-shaped base. Jonah looked up toward his 
quarters in the old whale’s belly, and a grand and sublime scene 
spread out to meet his sight as he cast his eyes above, for the 
scene was a grand panorama of all that could be admired in 


94 PATRICK O'MONIGHAN, OR 

colors or architecture. He found himself standing in the grand- 
est theatre that human eyes ever beheld. 

Jonah now comprehended all ; his mountain was bell-shaped 
and when he stood on the surface below and looked above, he 
saw the dome of the great theatre was full one hundred feet 
above, and no doubt when the rim of the great bell was of full 
size, the distance from the base of the rim to the dome above was 
atleast four hundred feet, as it was quite evident from what appear- 
ed that there was but a fraction of the great rim of the bell left. 

So Jonah found himself standing in this immense theatre 
where the wild and uncouth sea-monsters had based their oper- 
ations during the winter and had increased in numbers, no doubt, 
till Jonah was at one time the unconscious owner of a menagerie 
of wild monsters of the deep, that in Zoological importance might 
have attracted and pleased the fancy ol the civilized world, had 
Jonah been able to travel and exhibit his show. Jonah found 
that his mountain had been badly water-soaked during its excur- 
sion to the South and had become so honey-combed and porous 
that the sea animals made the great bell-shaped base a playhouse, 
so that they could borough in the brash, porous ice. 

When Jonah went inside of the base, he saw sand mixed with 
the pulverized ice, and upon examination found that the west 
side of his great castle rested on an island. The island, no doubt, 
extended out miles to the west of the mountain, but as it was 
always covered with ice and snow, Jonah had always regarded 
the whole surface as an undisturbed ice-plain. Jonah saw that 
his great castle was rapidly crumbling away, and he hastened to 
depart. When everything was in readiness and he had his pro- 
visions all packed snugly away in the bottom of the boat, he 
hitched up his Polar pets, Walrus and Seal, and started on his 
expedition to the North Pole. He wore his winter clothes; of 
course that was the robe that he had padded with a feather bed, 
and lined with seal skin. As he had been in-doors all winter, he 
was afraid that he would take cold, if he should dress lightly. 
He first had call for his boat on the open channel of the sea, but 
he soon took a change and used it as a sledge on the ice-fields 


I 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 

the open sea channel, and so on he used his boat-sledge 
alternately as he approached the Pole, 

Sometimes, when he was in his boat sledge gliding along 
smoothly over the still surface of the sea and almost asleep, Wal- 
rus or Seal seeing a good opportunity would dive down in the 
sea and catch a seal or a big fish, and then jump back into the 
boat- sledge again. So Jonah had scarcely any occasion to use 
his whale-rib spear only for his own amusement and pastime, 
for Walrus and Seal provided the crew with all the fresh fish and 
fresh seal that they could consume. 

Sometimes in jumping out and in the boat, Walrus and Seal 
would upset it, and throw the crew all out into the water. But 
a small affair of that kind is not regarded with much concern, 
nor even thought of as a small accident, in that country. The 
only accident worthy of any note that happened during the first 
summer of Jonah’s expedition-and that is scarcely worthy of spec- 
ial mention — happened at a very steep mountain; in fact in our 
own country it would be called a precipice. 

Jonah, of course, in ascending steep places, tied himself in 
his sledge-boat with seal skin whangs. In this particular case, 
while Walrus and Seal were scaling the precipice and struggling 
for nail holds, Jonah, in his deep anxiety of mind to reach the 
summit of the precipice, reached forward and gently prodded Wal- 
rus with his whale-rib spear. Walrus, with a savage growl, leaped 
forward with such sudden force that it broke the seal skin whang 
that held Jonah in his boat-sledge, and let him fall backwards, 
and in his fright he grabbed the tail end of the sledge-boat as he 
went down and his descending motion caused a sudden jerk that 
broke the traces and he brought the sledge with him in his 
descent. 

Jonah was wearing his winter suit , he had on at the time of 
the accident the Polar bear robe that was padded with a feather 
bed, and to that favorable circumstance he owed his life. For 
when the whangs broke and let him fall, the sledge-boat first ran 
against him and then over him, and owing to the sudden change 
of force, Walrus and Seal first plunged forward and lost their grip 


95 

along 


9 6 


PATRICK O' MONIGHAN ' OR 


on the side of the precipice, and then tumbled down the steep de- 
scent after Jonah to the base of the precipice. Jonah, in rolling 
down the precipice, moved slowly and pretty much the same as 
if he were a feather bed, and thus escaped without any broken 
bones. 

Walrus and Seal would not attempt to scale the lofty ascent 
again, so Jonah was compelled to hunt a less steep ascent 
across the mountains. 











I 


CHAPTER XIII. 

Exploits of Jacob Jonah on Sea. 

W HEN Jonah had crossed all the mountains that were of 
any considerable altitude, he traveled many miles over 
smooth, ice-covered plains, and discovered many remarkable ice 
formations. In the evening of the summer, when Jonah began to 
think of going into winter quarters, he came to a beautiful open 
channel of the sea, not more than twenty miles in width, but 
very long. Walrus and Seal took their positions in the stern of 
the boat, whilst Jonah rowed the boat along with his usual sailor- 
like skill. After he had rowed some distance to the north on the 
open channel, he discovered a large island that was very densely 
populated with a small, swarthy race of people. When Jonah ap- 
proached the island inhabited with the small, swarthy people, he 
wore his winter robe that was his Polar bear skin that was pad- 
ded with a feather bed. 

His robe retained the claws of the old Polar bear just as nat- 
ural as life. The jaws were retained with the robe, and Jonah had 
polished the teeth so that if there had been any human beings of 
our own intelligent race present to witness his appearance they 
would no doubt have considered him a little dangerous on ac- 
count of his supernatural attire. When Jonah approached the 
island inhabited with the small, swarthy people he was gently row- 
ing his boat along. But when he saw that the land was inhabited, 


7 


9 8 


PA TRICK O ' MO NIG HAN, OR 


he arose from his sitting posture, so as to give the inhabitants of 
the island a view of his person. This was when he was out two 
or three miles from shore. Walrus and Seal also discovered the 
new country, and both got up to take a look at a spectacle that 
was quite new and original to them. The boat was decorated 
with the gay and dazzling plumes that Jonah had used in ’the 
old whale’s belly, and Jonah was hopeful and almost certain that 
the natives of the island would at once recognize his humanity 
and make the usual signs of peace. 

When the small j swarthy people saw Jonah approaching their 
country, they all came to the beach and eagerly gazed and won- 
dered at Jonah and his wonderful crew. Walrus and Seal looked 
at the dense throng of human beings that lined and crowded 
the shore, and. put their big feet upon the side of the boat and 
growled fiercely, and manifested a desire to jump overboard and 
attack the strange people. Walrus and Seal thought that the na- 
tives of the new country were some kind of seals or sea-animals 
that they had never seen before and would have jumped out of 
the boat and made for shore, had not Jonah restrained them. 
You see that Walrus and Seal had never seen any human being 
but their master Jonah, and the little brown islanders looked 
about as much like seals or walruses as they looked like Jonah. 
For Jouah was a very handsome and well-developed man, and in 
the estimation of Walrus and Seal, he was no doubt their ideal 
of beauty, when he was arrayed in the immense skin of the old 
Polar bear. 

When Jonah came up within a mile or so of shore, he cast 
anchor, and began to make all the signs that he thought would be 
necessary to convince the swarthy islanders of his genuine human- 
ity. Jonah would have taken off his bear-skin suit and displayed his 
real person, but he was afraid that he would take cold. The 
old bear’s teeth that were in the mouth of Jonah’s robe glistened 
like ivory, as I have told you that he had them well polished. 
These teeth may have been the cause of some alarm to the na- 
tives. Another cause of alarm may' have been the monstrous size 
of Jonah. For he had curried and stretched the old Polar bear’s 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 


99 


skin, till it was twice as large as when flayed from the old Polar 
bear, and Jonah had stuffed it with feathers till it bulged out and 
was quite round and life-like. So Jonah looked very much like 
a quadruped called the mastadon that lived in this country 
some time before the Noah flood. 

Walrus and Seal were great, huge animals, but were small cubs 
when placed alongside of their master, Jonah. So Jonah com- 
menced to make signs of his friendship in order to gain the good 
will of the little brown people. He took his whale-rib spear and 
stuck a beautiful plume on the point of it, and held the plume 
up high over his head with his paws. Mind you, his hands were 
inside of the old Polar bear’s paws that he had dressed so neatly, 
especially for Polar purposes. 

Jonah noticed that some of the little brown people would 
once and a while drop out of the dense throng on shore, and break 
for the rear, and he was afraid that they were going off to arm 
themselves. This gave him some uneasiness of mind, but he 
afterwards learned that those that were falling out of the crowd 
on shore and making for the rear wfere going back of the village 
to an arm of the open sea to launch their boats, and make ready 
to escape from dangerous-looking Jonah. Jonah, after making 
many peaceful signs, and gaining no recognition from the na- 
tives, became sorely perplexed, as the little brown people would 
stand as stiff as statues, and look at Jonah and his crew. So Jo- 
nah weighed anchor and rowed up nearer the shore, hoping that 
the little brown people would make some sign that would even 
seem to indicate their friendship, and willingness for him to land 
with his crew. But Jonah noticed as he approached the shore, 
that the ranks of the natives were thinning out very fast. They 
began to break from the ranks that lined the shore, and run to 
the rear in much disorder and confusion. Jonah again cast an- 
chor, and, as a last resort to convince the little brown people of 
his humanty, drew from a pocket in the belly of his Polar bear 
robe his large Polar-bear-o-net that had served him so well on 
many momentous occasions, when he lived in the old whale’s 
belly. When he drew his Polar-bear-o-net, he passed the mouth- 


IOO 


PATRICK O'MONIGHAN, OR 


piece in between the teeth of the old bear’s polished snout till it 
reached his mouth, and inhaling his lungs full of air, he blew a 
very sharp and keen blast; whereupon the little brown people took 
to the most precipitate and disorderly flight. 

So Jonah’s Polar-bear -o-net had the opposite effect of that 
which he desired it to have. So horrified were the little brown 
people that they trampled on each other, regardless of the heart - 
rending cries of the crushed victims. A great many of the little 
brown people ran back to an open arm of the sea, where their 
boats were anchored, and made off down the channel, and others 
fled through the island, and Jonah saw no more of them. Jonah 
estimated their numbers at twenty-five thousand. 

Jonah went on shore whfen everything became quiet and se- 
rene. But it was with an aching heart and troubled conscience, 
for he regretted very much that the little brown people were not 
able to recognize his human nature. After going back from the 
shore at the distance of one mile, he found the city of the little 
brown people, but not a living soul to give him any information 
about the new country, or th*e little brown people. The houses 
of the city were mostly built of a very red clay, and were built 
by hands that were skilled far above a rude, savage state. In fact, 
many things about the city showed taste and culture, and that 
the inhabitants regarded the art of house-building with great 
favor. , . 

Jonah determined to go into winter quarters on the newly dis- 
covered island, for the feet of Walrus and Seal were very sore, 
and' their long claws when they left the old whale’s belly were 
worn down to the quick, and left bloody impressions in the 
snow. So Jonah determined to put up for the winter and wait 
for the toe-nails of his Polar pets to grow out again. And be- 
sides his boat-sledge wanted half-soling before it would be safe 
to trust it on the sea or ice. But Jonah still prayed in his loving 
and kind heart that the little brown people that owned the coun- 
try would return to their homes whilst he was on the island, so 
he could see them happy once more v around their own fire-sides. 

As the winter came on, the open channel over which he had 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 


IOI 


sailed to the island, closed up with a thick coat of ice, and no sur- 
face water could anywhere be seen. Fish were so abundant that all 
the effort Jonah had to make to supply himself with wholesome 
food, was to cut a hole in the ice and set a lamp of burning oil 
near it, and perhaps five thousand pounds of fish would leap out 
on the ice before the hole would freeze over again. The great 
abundance of fish was what accounted for the dense, human pop- 
ulation on the island, for their food cost no labor, and they had 
all their time spared from manual toil, an3 thus had ample op- 
portunity to improve their minds. 

Whilst Jonah wanted to be friendly and good to the little 
brown people, of course he had no thought of taking up his abode 
among them. He expected to find a class of people when he ar- 
rived atf the North Pole that would please his fancy, and that 
would stand on the high aristocratic and intelligent plane with 
himself. He only wanted to gain the good will, and perhaps a 
little voluntary assistance from the little brown people. 

He chose for the winter quarters of himself, and Walrus and 
Seal, a large, roomy, red clay house, which he expected to vacate 
without notice, just as soon as the owner would return. Jonah, 
and his Polar pets were soon rested from the fatigue of their 
summer’s travel. Walrus and Seal began to show a good deal of 
their hereditary drowsy disposition, and manifested some desire 
to sleep all the time, but Jonah waked them up a few times, and 
after awhile they seemed to be satisfied with a short nap, the same 
as their master, Jonah. Jonah went out after he had rested up 
his tired frame, and examined the city that had fallen into his 
possession. He was surprised to find in the very first house that 
he entered the same kind of golden-green cloth that he had found 
in the birds’ nests in the old whale’s belly. Upon further exam- 
ination he was more surprised to find that the little brown peo- 
ple had the finest and most complete jewelry that he had ever 
seen. It would appear that Jonah was a little at a loss on jewelry 
matters. It would seem that when he found the diamond ring, 
that he was under the belief that it must have belonged to some 
nation of people as far advanced in self-possession and the good 


102 


PATRICK O' MO NIG KAN, OR 


opinion of themselves, as we are ourselves. Jonah did not seem 
to know that the most sparkling gems and ornaments were wore by 
a class of human beings that we have always styled as the semi- 
barbarous. In fact, Jonah found many rings and ornaments of 
the same precious stone of which his first discovered diamond 
ring was composed. Jonah was now made to believe, by circum- 
stances at once strong and convincing, that he had discovered 
the land of the diamond ring, and he named the island “ Dia- 
mond Land.” Here on the island he found everything that ap- 
peared so strange in the birds’ nests, except the pen and pen- 
holder. For it would appear that although the little brown peo- 
ple were considerably advanced in mechanical arts, yet they 
were wholly without letters. 

The little brown people had culinary vessels made out of a 
purely white clay, that withstood the flame of a lamp made of 
the same substance. They had no domestic animals, at least Jo- 
nah was not able to discover any. Their fuel was the fatty sub- 
stances of fishes and the many animals that were so abundant in 
the adjacent waters. Their arms for defensive warfare were large 
bones, which, after being dried, were filled with some heavy, 
leaden mineral, and were considered by Jonah as very deadly 
weapons when the enemy assaulted was at close range. These 
little brown people were very simple in the domestic concerns, and 
but little can be said of their ambitions or habits. Their mode 
of living was evidently plain and unassuming. 

It was night nearly all the time that Jonah lived in their 
country, and many of their remarkable and important traits of 
character, were undoubtedly overlooked. And when Jonah re- 
mained in the country, he was expecting the little natives to re- 
turn at any minute and was a little careful, as he should be, about 
exposing his person in wandering around over the island, as he 
was not very heavily armed, and had only his whale-rib spear, 
knife, and whetstone, of which I have so often told you before. 
If it had been so ordered that Jonah could have staid on the 
island till daylight, or till summer, he would have collected a far 
more voluminous history of the little brown people. 


CHAPTER XIV, 

Exploits of Joacb Jonah on Sea. 

HEN Jonah had been on Diamond Land about two 



V V months or so, a great and deplorable misfortune befell 
him, and one too that he pined over till his last breath. The 
Aurora Borealis was shedding a very brilliant light, and Jonah 
and his Polar pets, Walrus and Seal, went abroad to take a stroll 
and to see what might be seen. Walrus and Seal had been follow- 
ing along in the trail of Jonah, and suddenly left their position 
in his rear, and darted off over the ice as if in chase of some flee- 
ing objects that they had discovered, and that Jonah was unable 
to see, with his less penetrating eyes. Soon after his Polar pets 
ran off over the ice, Jonah heard a trampling noise that sounded 
like a great number of feet trampling on the ice. Jonah, at that 
time did not give the matter a moment’s thought, as such a mat- 
ter was of very little moment, and as, the like was liable to hap- 
pen at any time, he took no concern about it. He supposed that 
Walrus and Seal had gone in quest of some of the quadrupeds 
that inhabited the island, and that their penetrating eyes discern- 
ed far away on the ice, as it was out over the frozen sea that 
they gave chase. So Jonah returned to his quarters after 
Walrus and Seal, ran off and left him, as it was not desirable to 
be alone. And as soon as he got in his house he retired to his 
bed, and being fatigued, soon fell into a sound slumber, and 


(103) 


104 


PATRICK O'MONIGHAN, OR 


when he awoke many hours afterwards, he found that Walrus 
and Seal had returned, and were quietly lying by his side. Hav- 
ing secured the objects that they were in quest of, they had re- 
turned with their game, such as it was. Jonah felt something 
very heavy lying across his feet, and supposed that Walrus and 
Seal had brought in a seal or a deer, or some of the game of the 
country with which he had not yet become quite familiar. 

Jonah lit his lamp and began to investigate his premises. He 
had not made a very extended inspection, when to his most pro- 
found grief, he found two little brown men that Walrus and Seal 
had brought home quite dead. Jonah was almost paralyzed with 
grief. They were some of the inhabitants of the island, and the 
poor little men were coming back to reclaim their own fire- 
sides, when Walrus and Seal saw them and hunted them down as 
common game. Jonah treated the remains of the two little brown 
men with all the gravity and respect that he was master of. He 
kept their bodies in his quarters and waked them for several hours, 
as that was the religious custom among the people of Boston, 
from whom Jonah borrowed his religious precedents in all solemn, 
religious matters. When he had the bodies of the two little 
brown men respectfully waked as he thought, he cut a hole in the 
ice and buried the two little dead brown men with all the sol- 
emnity and decency that he could command. 

During Jonah’s stay on Diamond Land, the old volcano that 
had opened its crater with such a terrifying uproar when he lived 
in the old whale’s belly, would -occasionally send up aflame, and 
lava and smoke accompanied with a roaring sound that was very 
animating to the nerves of Jonah. After the homicide of the 
two little brown men, Jonah determined that he would not stay 
any longer on Diamond Land, but would prepare to evacuate it as 
quickly as possible. His sorrow for the little brown dead men 
worried his mind, and could only be appeased by the ever-chang- 
ing scenery found on his expedition through the icy world. So 
Jonah determined to set forward without awaiting the re-appear- 
ance of the sun. 

In his forward movement, he was aided by the illumination 




THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 105 

in the north ; for the north was so brilliantly illuminated, that 
he had but little cause to regret the want of the sun. So after 
due preparation, he harnessed up his two Polar pets, and set out 
in his sledge-boat. He hoped to obtain a view of the mysterious 
North Pole and its inhabitants, before another winter would set 
in. When Jonah had scaled about fifty miles of the icy heights, 
the sun re-appeared, and soon Jonah heard a sound that resembled 
distant thunder. This sound he thought proceeded from the vol- 
cano that had before attracted his attention. Jonah had now 
reached and was traveling over a surface that threw up but ordi- 
nary obstructions, and over which he was making very good 
headway. The distant thunder was soon changed to a deep roar, 
which oftentimes was very deafening. 

Jonah reached a mountain of considerable altitude, and as- 
cended to the summit to take an extensive view of the country 
that he was approaching. The surface over which he was travel- 
ing was all covered with a soft coat of snow and ice. When he 
reached the summit of the mountain, a grand scene was spread 
out before him on the surface below. For far to the south were 
the tall glazed peaks of the mountains ; on his right was a 
comparatively level plain; on his left he could see several smok- 
ing and puffing volcanic fires ; while far away to the north, he 
could see great, dense, black clouds rising above tjie horizon, 
and could see forked lightning darting through them, and every- 
thing about the dark, stormy clouds would seem to indicate a 
rising wind- and rain-storm. These dark, stormy clouds caused 
Jonah much mysterious study, and he rivited his eyes on the 
black, stormy scene, and stood and gazed in silent wonder for a 
long time, for it had been so long since he had seen anything 
that denoted a warm temperature, that he was unwilling to give 
his own eyes credit for what appeared so real at first sight. He 
was rather inclined to believe that the black, stormy scene be- 
fore him was but an airy phantom without body or substance, or 
some mirage of the air perhaps, that had appeared to betray his 
sight and understanding. He, however, could but advance 
toward the dark, threatening clouds, as they were in his direct 


io6 


PATRICK O'MONIGHAN , OR 


course to the north. So, after he was tired looking at the dark 
mysteries that he could not solve, he descended from the moun- 
tain summit, and resumed his expedition toward the dark, om- 
inous clouds. 

When he reached the plain below, he walked along on foot 
by the side of his boat-sledge, for the snow soon became so patchy 
and thin, that Walrus and Seal had all they could do to draw 
the boat-sledge with the store of provisions that it contained. 
When Jonah had traveled some miles farther toward the north, 
he reached a smooth, level bed of recent lava formation, that was 
entirely free from ice and snow, and he supposed that he was 
nearing the crater of a great volcano, whose internal heat kept 
the surface above a freezing temperature. 

He, however, considered himself as safe traveling along on the 
smooth lava bed, as he had been on many other momentous oc- 
casions since he had set out to find the North Pole. He had not 
traveled long on the lava surface till he saw a dense fog sweeping 
down from the north. Jonah at his distance thought that the dense 
fog was black, sulphurious smoke that was emitted from a volcan- 
ic crater, and he became somewhat alarmed, lest he should be 
suffocated in the dense smoke that was sweeping down on him ; 
so he, and Walrus and Seal, sat down and awaited the coming of 
the dark cloud of smoke, as it would appear. But when it reach- 
ed Jonah’s position, he was pleasantly surprised to learn that 
the dark cloud was a cooling vapor, accompanied with a refresh- 
ing breeze, but the dark vapor obscured the light of the sun, 
and Jonah and his Polar pets were enshrouded in darkness. 
And soon the roaring sounds that he had heard when farther back 
set in, and the surface on which he stood, trembled. Jonah was 
now sure that at a little distance farther on, he would find a 
mighty volcano, active in emitting the internal elements of the 
earth. 

When Jonah had awaited for a change in the elements for 
some hours, a gale swept down from the mountains on the south 
and carried the dark, blinding fog away off to the north, Jonah 
resumed his course onward, and after he had traveled but a few 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 


107 


miles, he was sorely perplexed, and alarmed about his own safe- 
ty, for a dark volume of what appeared to be smoke, arose from 
the surface not many miles ahead. Jonah, however, continued 
on his course, and a few miles farther on he found that the sur- 
face over which he was traveling, ended, and he thought sure 
enough that he had reached the jumping olf place, as the surface 
ahead appeared to end abruptly. Jonah stopped for a minute 
when he saw that his course was terminated in a precipitous de- 
scent. Then he walked cautiously up to the brink of the preci- 
pice, and looking down he could see what appeared to be fog, or 
steam in the chasm below. He remained on the brink of the 
precipice till a change came over the dismal chasm, and when 
the change did come, the surface of a boiling sea was revealed 
full three hundred feet below. 

When Jonah began to comprehend the 'nature of his sur- 
roundings, he walked along the precipitous shore of the boiling 
sea, to get a full understanding of what appeared to be a boiling 
hot sea of boundless extent. Jonah soon learned that the boiling 
waters were inhabited. Great monsters would arise on leathern 
wings from the surface of the boiling sea, and utter hideous 
shrieks, and dive down in the boiling waters again. These mon- 
sters would sometimes fly along the surface of the boiling waters 
for some distance before they would submerge themselves. 

Jonah was at first utterly disgusted with the inhabitants that 
he found at the North Pole, for they fell far below his expecta- 
tions. He had expected to find human beings well bred in the 
civilized arts of our own people, and now he was treated to a 
boiling sea full of horrid creatures. So he retraced his steps 
back to the colder regions about the base of the ice-mountains 
with a full determination to go back to the cold regions to the 
south, and spend the remainder of his life where there were an 
abundance of luxurious fishes. But after he got back to the base 
of the mountains and settled down for awhile, the sun reached 
its highest point in the heavens, and he re-considered his inten- 
tion to abandon the North Pole, for after the sun had reached 
its highest point in the heavens, the weather became so fragrant 


Patrick o'monighan ■ or 


ioS 

and pleasant that he determined to leave his boat and set out 
with Walrus and Seal on foot, and learn more about the myste- 
rious boiling waters. He was encouraged in his enterprise by 
the flight of birds whose course was in' the direction of the boil- 
ing sea. 

The weather became very calm and serene, about midsummer, 
and Jonah realized that he had reached the Pole during the 
stormy season, and that on his second exploration of the boil- 
ing sea, he would not have any trouble on account of the weather. 
So he hid his sledge-boat away where he could find it on his 
return, and strapped his provisions on the backs of ^Valrus and 
Seal, and returned to the boiling sea with a determination to 
explore its shores till he would know all there was in or about its 
mysterious waters. 






\ 






L 


' \ 


CHAPTER XV. 


Exploits of Jacob Jonah on Sea, 

W HEN Jonah returned to explore the shores of the hot sea, 
he found the surface unruffled and tranquil, with no signs 
of submarine disturbances. Everything was as quiet along-shore 
as though it were always summer there, and it might pass for a 
popular watering place to one that knew not of its smouldering 
fifes. The only indication of the heated state of its waters could 
be discerned when Jonah stood on its rocky brink, and looked 
out over its surface where he could see far out at sea, heated va- 
por rising up in the air, and meeting cold currents would float 
off to the cold mountains, and there fall in sleet, rain or snow. 

And thus it was made clear tjo Jonah that the boiling sea was 
the great source that built and rebuilt the ice-mountains far back 
ip the frozen seas. Jonah soon learned from his observatious that 
the stormy seasons recurred periodically, and so he felt 
that he was in no imminent danger from the fires below. So he 
was left in a cool and collected mood of mind to make his scien- 
tific investigations along the wild and abrupt walls that inclosed 
the boiling sea. 

The sky above was clear and light, and birds of various spe- 
cies could frequently be seen flying far above the hot -sea, Yet 
not a bird inhabited the rocky walls of the sea. The shores of 

the boiling sea seemed to be shunned by all flying tribes. Jonah 

(109) 


no 


PATRICK O' MONIGHA N, OR 


sauntered leisurely along the high banks and turned his thoughts 
to the study of the Ichthyology of the sea. In the lowest places 
the walls of the sea were full two hundred feet in height, and 
when Jonah would reach one of these low places, he would sit 
down on a smooth stone and study the habits and sports of the 
inhabitants down below in the hot waters with which he was soon 
made quite familiar. 

When he had traveled along the sea shore about fifty miles, 
in a northwest course, he came to a cool, clear, and pure foun- 
tain of water that arose among the rocks, back some miles from 
the sea shore, and the volume of water that sprung from the foun- 
tain flowed down and mingled with the sulphurious gases of the 
hot sea. At this fountain of pure water, Jonah went into camp, 
and began to prospect among the rocky regions back from shore 
for some new object of interest, and, when he was not off pros- 
pecting, he would sit down on the overhanging wall of the hot 
sea, and try to fathom all its mysterious inhabitants. 

He had not spent much time in watching the inhabitants of 
the hot sea, till he became very much interested in the odd, but 
very plain way that pretty much all the hot water animals 
procured their food. The high, rocky and craggy walls of the 
hot sea afforded the huge lizard fishes their sole means of support, 
or at least so it would appear. The steep, rocky walls of the sea 
were all covered with tins upon tons of fungi of all imaginary 
shapes and colors ; some of these mushrooms and toadstools — for 
such they seemed to be — were of. prodigious size. And many of 
them would measure from ten teet to twenty feet in diameter. 
These immense mushrooms and toadstools covered the walls of 
the sea all the way from the surface of the sea to the top of the 
walls above. And what seems least credible in the matter of the 
toadstools and mushrooms is that that they would reach tnis pro- 
digious size in a very short time. 

So all that an inhabitant of the hot sea had to do to procure 
its food was to climb up the rocky walls of the sea, and feed on 
the mushrooms and toadstools that grew there in abundance. 
The growth of this fungi was caused, of course, by the warm fum- 


Ill 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 

\ 

ing, and gaseous sea below. The lizard fishes would crawl up 
the steep banks and feed at will, and never had the least trouble 
to find their required food. 

When Jonah discovered the way that the inhabitants of the 
hot sea found their food, he whiled away many pleasant hours in 
watching the great clumsy monsters climb up the steep walls. 
Some of these curious creatures that lived in the hot water, were very 
odd and uncouth, without one redeeming quality to lessen their 
mean looks. As a general thing they were clad in a hard crocodile 
or alligator skin, and when they rubbed their bellies on the rough 
walls of the sea, a sound was produced the same as if two rough, 
hard rocks were rubbed together. 

These huge hot water monsters had large jaws and horrid sets 
of teeth. Their eyes, too, were large and saucer- shaped, which 
gave them a wild amd theatening appearance. These lizard 
fishes, for such they seemed to be, would measure from one foot, 
to thirty feet in length. Some of them had wings, which when 
expanded, extended out as far as ten feet from the main trunk. 
When Jonah would hurl missiles down on these monstrous liz- 
ards, they would tumble down in the most awkward and un- 
graceful manner, and sink down in the sulphurious sea. They 
would sometimes regard Jonah with penetrating looks, and 
spread their jaws, and give him to understand what he had to ex- 
pect if he were within reach. 

When Jonah had been in camp about a fortnight at the foun- 
tain of pure water, he climbed up to the top of a high bed of lava, 
and there discovered that the boiling sea had a circular form. He 
had all along thought that the high wall was circular in its forma- 
tion. But when he stood on a high eminence, the circular form of 
the hot sea was at once apparent. Jonah left his resting place at the 
spring of fresh water and extended his researches farther on 
along the circular walls of the sea. He came to a place in the 
high sea walls that would admit of his descending below and 
tasting of the sulphurious waters. So he went down to the sur- 
face of the sea and took a mouthful of the water. But such was 
the gaseous and sulphurious mixture, that it caused him to spit it 


1 1 2 


PA TRICK O' MQNIGHAN, OR 


out instantly und hurry up the sea walls, for he thought from the 
strange feelings that immediately set through his head, that he 
had taken a fatal draught. 

The water was not scalding hot as it was when he approached 
the sea early in the summer. It was tepid of course, and com- 
paratively warm, but the heat of the water was not what effected 
Jonah’s nerves ; it was the poisonous acids and gases of which it 
was composed, that had such a dangerous and deleterious effect. 
However, Jonah was warned by his mistake, and experimented 
no further in that way. 

When Jxmah had traveled on about fifty miles farther, the 
walls <5f the hot sea came to an abrupt end, and gave place to a 
low plane several hundreds of feet below, and but little elevated 
above the surface of the sea. 

Jonah went to the edge of the plain over which he had been 
traveling, and which all at once ended in a precipice, and looked 
down on the broad plain below and there he saw numerous herds 
of strange polar animals grazing on the level, marshy plains that 
were covered with a luxurious growth of green vegetation. 

So Jonah spent many hours in watching the movements of 
the animals far below him on the plain, with the desire to learn 
something of their natures and habits. He paid particular at- 
tention to some animals that he saw grazing along near the sea 
shore. These animals were feeding on some kind of coarse 
sea-weeds that were growing in rich luxuriance all along the 
beach. The animals that Jonah saw along the sea shore were 
of the form of the elephant, but were much larger. In fact one 
of them was as large as two or three elephants. When these 
large animals come up near the sea shore an immense winged 
serpent, having something of the image of an alligator, but with 
long legs and a tail about thirty feet long, rushed out of the sea 
and grabbed one of the large animals near the shore, and run 
back to the deep water, flapping his wings and uttering horrid 
shrieks. When the winged serpent reached the deep water he 
dived down and that was the last that Jonah saw of him or his 
prey. The other animals that were grazing on the plain when 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 113 

the monstrous serpent came up out of the sea and seized his prey 
rah off at the top of his speed to the mountains that loomed up 
far away in the distance. 

This put an end to Jonah's explorations in that direction. 
He would have been glad to go below on the plain to study the 
Zoology of that region, but the tragedy that he saw enacted 
near the sea shore put a full stop to his course. 

He returned to his boat-sloldge which was empty and light, 
and hitched up his pets, Walrus and Seal, and commenced his 
explorations around the circular hot sea in a northeast course. 

His stock of provisions was all consumed when he had spent 
but a few weeks on the shores of the hot sea. He could not 
abandon his prospecting tour to go off in the cold regions to 
procure a supply of his usual food. So he had to look out for 
support for the inner man along the shores of the hot sea. He 
could not expect anything from the waters of the hot sea. 

He tried his stomach with the mushroons and toadstools that 
the lizard-fishes lived on, and to say the least of them they 
proved wholly incompatible with his stomach, for being hungry 
he made a hearty meal on them, but had every reason to regret 
it afterwards. For the toadstools were not at all adapted, or 
agreeable as a human diet and they were not at rest on his stom- 
ach more than a half hour till they caused him much heaviness 
and vomitin'g, and he was quite faint and weak for some time 
afterwards. So he had to prospect for a more wholesome diet, 
or else abandon his course around the sea. 

In examining among the rocks he found various kinds of 
molusks, or snails, which were very slimy and horrible to the 
sight, but were not bad to the taste, and rested well on his stom- 
ach, and invigorated and toned his appetite so that he was soon 
able to devour a large measure of the molusks at one meal. Wal- 
rus and Seal learned to hunt for the molusks and snails, and be- 
came voracious feeders on their new diet. 

When Jonah had traveled around the circular boiling sea in 

a northeast course about forty miles, he came to a river of pure, 

clear water. Here at the river, Jonah determined to quit his 

8 


14 


PA TRICK O' MONIGHAN, OR 


explorations of the hot sea which promised so little, and hunt 
for aland which would at least afford game. 

Jonah remained some time at the mouth of the river that 
put into the hot sea, and as the banks of the river were fringed 
with mountains of considerable altitude, Jonah would occasional- 
ly ascend up to some lofty height to get a view of distant objects. 
One time he climbed up to the summit of a mountain when the 
weather was clear and still, and looked away off over the surface 
of the hot sea and he discovered the peak of a lofty mountain 
that towered above the horizon of the quiet sea. It was but a 
peak, but there it was sure enough the top of a great mountain 
all clothed in the verdant colors of a warm and salubrious 
climate. 

Jonah would have gladly sailed over the sea to the land of 
which the mountain was but a promontory, but the horrible lizard 
fishes, and the monster with leathern wings that came up out of 
the sea and seized an animal many times larger than an elephant 
as a cat would seize a mouse, caused him to put no trust in his 
frail sledge-boat in crossing the boiling sea. He still had hope 
that he could find a genial land in some other quarter of the 
Polar regions. So he ascended the river that he discovered. 
He named the river Walrus or Seal river, in honor of his Polar 
pets. He traveled up Walrus or Seal river till the long Polar 
night set in, and then he went into winter quarters at the source 
of the river which^was at the base of some high mountains. 

When summer returned, he crossed the mountains and con- 
tinued on his way in a southeast course, and traveled many miles 
over unbroken plains of snow and ice till he came to an open 
sea around which there were many floating pine logs. He fastened 
several of these logs together and had a raft on which he placed 
his worn sledge-boat. He constructed sails from the skins of 
seals, and soon had quite a floating raft, with which he put to 
sea, and after months of sailing on a quiet, open sea he sighted 
land, and succeeded in landing his raft. He remained on this 
land through the following winter, abd here it falls to my lot as 
chronicler of these events to narrate the saddest part of the whole 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. its 

story. Walrus and Seal attacked a. party of whalers and hunters 
that were wintering on the land, and both were killed, Jonah 
joined the same whalers and hunters, and learned that the land 
was Spitzbergen, and early in the following summer he sailed 
with these adventurous hunters and whalers to Bergen in Norway, 
and soon after sailed for Boston. But when he arrived in his na- 
tive city, he found that all his old friendships were departed 
His father had been lost at sea ; his mother had passed from 
earthly scenes many years before. So Jonah visited my father, 
at his homestead on the Hudson. 

And now, that I may not be thought too tedious, I will here 
bring to a close that part of my narrative that includes the ex- 
ploits on sea of the overseer, Jacob Jonah, my uncle. And I 
hope that you may find something of pleasing importance to you 
in my brief history of his romantic career in the wild west. 


CHAPTER XVI. 


Exploits of Jacob Jonah on Land. 

W HAT boy has not watched and envied the swift-winged 
bird as it flitted past the school-house window, and 
plunged beneath the cooling boughs of the woods hard by. there 
to live and lead a life at ease in the cooling summer shades, where 
the voice of nature was unhushed by the coarse rights of man, 
where the birds unworried by torrid heat, and unawed by a ty- 
rant’s illegal rule, loved, and sang. 

What sickly, restless boy has not felt that his book was but a 
senseless, galling yoke, that served to break down and subdue his 
moral force and free-will that longed to see the beautiful, wild, 
green forests of the west, with their wild beasts and birds, all free 
and far from the taming and destroying hand of man ? 

What boy restrained by a master’s hand, has not, at times of 
sore oppression, felt as pleasant twinges of- hope as ever lightened 
the sorrows, and animated the heart of full grown man, as he 
looked beyond the prescribed rules of the school tyrant, and 
thought of the happier future days when he, too, should be a man, 
and in a better land where all could be at liberty and free from 
every restraint of a master. Such is the pure and spiritual taste 
of the ambitious boy, before he finds, his shoulders bearing the 
heavy burdens of manhood. 

So in looking over the early years and searching for premo- 

(n6) 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 


ii 7 


tions in the obscure life of young Jacob Jonah, it is found that 
he too, had the sweet and consoling dreams of a boyhood, thaj 
expected when the days of thralldom were outgrown, to live in 
unbound freedom in the forests of the wild West. 

When young Jacob Jonah had but reached the tender age of 
ten years, he was a curious seeker of whatever was most attractive, 
and untame from the wild and romantic forests of the distant 
West. Whenever an animal show would be foretold by flaming 
posters on the walls and fences, young Jonah would visit the pic- 
tures of the wild animals day after day, and there stand, and look, 
and wonderland long, and sigh, and fret to see the attractive 
wild and ferocious animals in their own native wild woods. 

And there was nothing on earth that gave young Jacob Jonah 
such thrilling joy, and buoyed up his breast against the misfor- 
tunes of boyhood, as the orator of the show that would take a 
conspicuous stand in front of the canvas, and tell the gaping 
crowd of bystanders of the wonderful beasts that would be caged 
up inside of the canvas, and that were continually performing, 
or about to perform astonishing feats with their keeper. Of all 
the men on earth that young Jacob Jonah would like to imi- 
tate on the stage of life, the showman that knew the names and 
traits of the wild animals, was foremost. No doubt that at that 
period of young Jacob Jonah’s life, he would gladly have sought 
an acquaintance with the wild tribes in the wilderness of the 
West, w'ere it not that he was subject to the reign of the elder 
Jonah, who, perhaps, was desirous thaf young Jonah should fol- 
low in his footsteps, and become a distinguished whaler. 

But minor details will now give way to make place to record 
events of an important character. After young Jacob Jonah re- 
turned from the Arctic seas, he settled down with my father, who 
was living at his homestead on the Hudson. When young Jonah 
had remained some months with my father, he began to feel en- 
feebled in health. It was thought that his exploits in the Arctic 
regions caused some constitutional derangement, or that his sud- 
den change from the regions of perpetual ice, where he had lived 


ii8 PATRICK O' MO NIG HAN, OR 

so long, to a warm, mild climate had brought on a decline of 
health. 

The sudden change was no doubt what interfered with his 
physical well-being. However it may have have been, he was 
not many months with my father on the Hudson, till he found 
that he had an ailment in his breast and lungs, that was under- 
mining his constitution, and hastening him to his end, and he 
began to look around and consult such physicians as knew of 
the best healing remedies. 

He went to the city of New York’ to get medical directions 
from those well versed in his cause of complaint. And there he 
was advised to emigrate to the Arkansas Territory, that had not 
long before been organized under a territorial form of govern- 
ment. The Arkansas Territory, it was thought by the best med- 
cal advisers, with its fragrant Italian climate, would heal the 
health wounds of young Jonah. So after due preparation, young 
Jonah departed for the wild West. 

When young Jonah reached the northeastern part of the Ar- 
kansas Territory, it was as a humble, coughing invalid without 
any ambition or motive, or even a hope, only the hope that the 
genial climate of the Territory would restore his health to its 
pristine vigor. So his name was not heralded before him to 
awaken popular favor in his behalf. He was one of the world’s 
silent heroes, that always left his unwritten history behind, and 
performed the part that circumstances seemed to prescribe for him, 
without making any public ado about it. 

He came without thought of making a debut in society, or 
gaining favor in the eyes of the fair sex. He acted just as his 
circumstances directed. He was poor in purse, and at once 
sought out a place in the Teiritory a little in advance of the set- 
tlements, and began his operations as an invalid hunter, and 
thought if he could supply his dyspeptic appetite with such small 
game as would come in his way, that he would do well enough. 

He was not long encamped in the Territory, till he found 
. himself growing vigorous and strong, and with returning health, 
his ambition began to grow, and he extended his hunting expedi- 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 119 

tions far into the wild country. He found that the climate not 
only healed his wounded health, but strengthened his frame, so 
that he soon found himself a new physical man, and so capable 
to endure fatigue, that he could make the hunting pursuits profit- 
able. Young Jonah was a most thorough and practical^athlete, 
having acquired his activity from his many years of experience 
as a sailor in the northern seas. 

His popular qualities soon spread over the Territory, and he 
became at once a popular beau among all the young ladies, and 
his acquaintance was much sought after. He was good looking 
in the fancy of most of the young ladies, and could tell real smart 
stories about his sea adventurers that were interesting to all the 
young folks. Young Jonah became a target and object for many 
a jealous thrust from the rival bloods of the day. But he was 
good natured, and would generally smile at the insults of his ri- 
vals. He submitted to much insult and ridicule from those of 
course, aggressive natures. So as might be expected, his good 
natured submission brought on sharper attacks from his .social 
parasites. 

There was living on the frontier of the Arkansas Territory at 
that time, a young aristocratic, and rising politician by the name 
of Thomas Jefferson Tobias, who on account of favorable family 
influences, stood well in all first-class society circles. His educa- 
tion was of a superior degree, and was highly appreciated by his 
party friends. His family name, too, gave him backbone, as a 
politician, and made him a leader in society, and opened the 
way to his social and political intrigues. 

The father of Thomas Jefferson Tobias, old Captain Emanuel 
Tobias, although dead and buried was not forgotten, but still 
remembered for his many lofty traits of character. He had 
achieved an enviable reputation as a Mississippi river sailor. He 
had engineered many flat-boat expeditions down the “Father of 
Waters,” and immortalized himself by his gallant, martial bear- 
ing and conduct when captain of a company of Kentucky dra- 
goon militia. So that Thomas Jefferson Tobias had not only in- 
herited a name that his father had made popular before him, but 


120 


1 PA TRICK O'MONIGHAN, OR 


it was even considered by many of young Tobias’s most enthusi- 
astic admirers that the young man had also inherited the genius 
of his father. 

In fact, young Tobias had, when quite young, accompanied 
his father on several flat-boat excursions, and had acquired some 
reputation as a flat-boat sailor. Thomas Jefferson Tobias had 
also made a specialty of courting the good graces of all the ladies 
in the Territory, and through energetic efforts in that direction, 
had of course become quite popular and fashionable, and was re- 
ceived at all the dancing parties with favor and esteem. 

He had bought his high social standing among the ladies 
with his cheap counterfeit civility. He managed always to keep 
on hand a full stock of social sham sayings and fal'se graces, 
which are all-important as you must know, among that class of 
ladies that never look beyond the superficial manners and graces 
of deceitful and false men. Tobias was one of those ravenous 
wolves clad in sheep’s clothing, that makes a popular and agree- 
able beau for the finest society ladies, and who at the same time 
can find time to cultivate the good opinions of the men. 

Such was the counterfeit ability of Tobias that he could carry 
out his sham civility to an audacious and extreme length without 
being detected by the shrewdest observer. He had a faculty of 
raising his hat in a polite, genteel way to a lady acquaintance a 
hundred paces off, that would nearly always gain a smile of rec- 
ognition. So you will readily understand that the Jacob Jonah 
style of civility fell far below par, and passed at discount where 
civil breeding was guaged by the Tobias standard. 

What Thomas Jefferson Tobias was socially, he was politically. 
He was a patron of whatever political shams and^ tricks in his 
party would be surest of success. His worth had already been 
recognized and substantially rewarded in very agreeable ways by his 
party friends. He had served justice in the capacity of under- 
sheriff, and was allowed many other minor parts of pecuniary ad- 
vantage. . He had during his service in the political stronghold 
of under-sheriff, cultivated many friendships among the inferior 
classes, and to such an extent tha^ he was esteemed as a very 


' V 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 121 

strong politician, and party worker. It was conceded that he 
was endowed with superior talents and genius, and that he was 
predestined to mount high up on the pinnacle of fame. 

What Thomas Jefferson Tobias was socially and politically, 
he was religiously. When he would go to one of the large, log 
meeting houses that the Territory afforded at that time, to hear 
the religious views of some itinerant sectarian preacher, he would 
act in the most religious circumspect and guarded manner when- 
ever the preacher gave out a popular account of heaven and hell. 
But if the itinerant preacher gave out new fangled accounts of 
heaven and hell, and such ideas were not in favor with Tobias’s 
party friends, then Tobias would behave in the rudest and most 
disgusting manner, and act in such a shocking and vulgar man- 
ner that he would gain the admiration of all the rough and ig- 
norant slums that occupied the rear pews, or that stood outside 
around the doors and windows, and cultivated each other’s social 
respect and good will, by hooting like owls, and barking like dogs, 
and howling like wolves, and braying like jackasses, and setting 
all the dogs that’ followed their masters to meeting, to fighting, 
and so on. in minor details. 

But the differences between the social and religious parties 
reached a crisis at last, and during that crisis the young invalid 
sailor, Jacob Jonah, was almost overwhelmed by a mob, set 
upon him by the wolf in sheep’s clothing, Thomas Jefferson 
Tobias. 

4 





I 


CHAPTER XVII 


Exploits of Jacob Jonah on Land. 

D URING the November quarterly meetings, carried on under 
the auspices of Parson Witherman, whisperings broke out 
at the nightly meetings. These whisperings at first were of little 
concern to the good Parson, as he thought that the usual rough 
elements had come to attend his meetings for the purpose of cul- 
tivating their gross ideas of society. 

So when the good parson was annoyed by the boisterons and 
irreverent young men that occupied the rear pews, he simply 
reprimanded them by reminding them of the punishment that 
would surely be inflicted, on the transgressors of the moral code. 
But after the good Parson had his meetings in progress, two or 
three evenings, the disturbances increased till the attention of 
the audience was diverted from the good Parson’s discourse, and 
the good Parson himself began to wander from the thread of his 
sermon. 

When the good Parson saw how these evils were sapping his 
good works, he was caused much vexation, of spirit. These 
whisperings and discords that the good Parson had usually 
squelched with a few, well selected quotations from the moral 
law, bcame such disturbing elements that many people that had 
come to hear his sermons, and have their moral hold strengthened 

(122) 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 


123 


went home in disgust, full of vulgar thoughts about the good 
Parson’s flock. 

What gave the general aspect of the good Parsons nightly 
meetings, the character too of an unclean spirit was seen in the 
fact that many of the young ladies that had hitherto given undi- 
vided ear to all kinds of sermons, had joined the refractory ele- 
ments that seemed to trample the divine offerings of good Parson 
Witherman under foot. Some of the young men that the good 
parson reproved sharply, betook themselves to the outside of the 
meeting house and would stand around the door and windows, 
and imitate the caterwauling of cats, and the barking of dogs, 
and the hooting of owls, and all such disagreeable noises that 
would disturb and disgust the meetings. 

The good Parson as a last resort, began to look about for 
some worldly means that would overcome the workers in iniquity. 
It was an anomalous way for the good Parson Witherman to pro- 
ceed. But after due consultation with the most faithful fathers 
and elders in the church, he thought it best to investigate the 
violations of the law-breakers, and inflict such temporal punish- 
ment on them as the laws of the Arkansas Territory had pre- 
scribed. So a committee of the elders of the church was ap- 
pointed with full license to fathom the disturbing elements and 
try and ascertain all about the hidden causes of the unaccounta- 
ble excitement at the good Parson’s nightly meetings. 

Upon a close investigation by the committee of elders, it was 
found that a mammoth and combined corn-husking and quilt- 
ing frolic was in the air, and had completely filled the social ear, 
and the worldly heart was exulting and jubilant over the pros- 
pects of the approaching frolic, and the social brotherhood and 
sisterhood were so filled with their worldly prospects as to treat 
the remote and infinite pleasures that the good Parson Wither- 
man promised with but very little concern. The committee 
further found that the frolicing corn huskers and quilters would 
gather in about a fortnight after that time in one of the biggest 
barns in the Arkansas Territory, and that after the corn would be 
husked and the quilts quilted, the barn floor would be cleared off, 


124 


PA TRICK O'MONIGHAN, OR 


and a dance succeed in which everybody that was able to pay 
the fiddler was expected to participate; and that the remarkable 
social event would take place on the premises of one Major Wash- 
ington Beaver, who was the head of one of the first families in 
the Arkansas Territory, or was at least considered one of the first 
families from the worldly standpoint of those that sought after 
such temporal pleasurers as could be found at a corn-husking and 
quilting frolic. It wa§ also found that the fountain head of 
the proposed corn-husking and quilting frolic was one Thomas 
Jefferson Tobias, of political and Mississippi river flat-boat renown. 
The committee further found that the proposed corn-husking and 
quilting frolic was the apparent cause of the first disturbances at 
meeting. The frolicers, it was found, werp giddy and excited 
over the approaching frolic^ and meant no insolence to the good 
Parson Witherman, till he undertook to brow beat them and 
threaten them with future punishment. The committee also 
found that after the frolicers were ruffled by the reproof of the 
good Parson that they were egged on in their mischief making 
by-Thomas Jefferson Tobias, and that during the height of the 
disturbances at meeting, many of the preachers and leading 
members of the rival churches were seen to shake the hand of 
Thomas Jefferson Tobias, and accord him a hearty greeting 
whenever they met him. 

When the committee of elders made their report, which con- 
tained all about what had taken place, and all about what would 
take place, the good Parson Witherman at once saw that he had 
insulted a power that might completely overwhelm him and his 
cause. If he had known that Thomas Jefferson Tobias was the 
bold front of the disturbances, he would have approached the pow- 
erful enemy with more caution. But as it was, he had blundered 
m his mode of attack and united all the elements of the opposi- 
tion. He had reproved the laughing and whispering followers of 
1 homas Jefferson Tobias that had been indirectly egged on by 
the rival churches, so that the soul v and body of the disturbers in 
the opinion of the good Parson, were the rival preachers, aided by 
Thomas Jefferson Tobias, and by the combined forces of Tobias and 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE 6F OLD UZARRO. 


125 


the rival churches, he was threatened on all sides, and the preachers 
and exhorters of anarchy and confusion were about to succeed. 
Even in his most popular days the good Parson would be very char- 
ry about tackling the acknowledged leader of the social people, for 
such Thomas Jefferson Tobias was. But it would seem that these 
whisperings and annoyances had grown so aggrieving that the usual 
calm and Job-like patience of the good Parson gave way to the 
more violent passions that had long sihouldered in his heart, un- 
der control of his better religious spirit. The good Parson, you 
see, had allowed his. patience to break down before he had been 
informed of the powers he was tackling. Another matter that 
should have been thought of by the good Parson was the unpop- 
ularity of some of his religious tenets. The good Parson was at 
one time an acknowledged leader among the adherents of strict- 
ly Orthodox views as interpreted by the teachers of Theology in 
the old, long and well-established Theological schools and col- 
leges. But after following the old confined path as mapped out 
by the good teachers that had gone before him, and cleared away 
the brush and blazed the trees by the wayside, and placed the 
mile-stones so that all might reach the happy future, the good 
Parson had left the hard, beaten path, and turned his eyes away 
from the old familiar indices by the way side, and undertook to 
make a leading path of his own. It is true that he still remained 
steadfast to his old, time-honored tenets, but he introduced some 
new doctrines that he imagined he discovered in the Scriptures, 
and these late innovations were what caused all the diversity of 
opinions among the oldest members of the church. 

This diversity of opinions took deep root, so deep indeed, 
that the good Parson was unable to bridge over the schism, and 
some of the most wealthy members severed their connection with 
the good Parson’s church, and held his opinions as heretical and 
wholly without the pale of safety. The rival preachers of the 
dav took a hand in the schism that was made in the good Lar- 
son’s church, and used their cunning endeavors to widen the 
chasm till it would engulf the good Parson Witherman. For 
his wily rivals well knew and foresaw that if the heretical doc- 


126 


PA TRICK O' MONIGHAA, OR 


trines of the good Parson would only swallow him up, that they 
would fall heir to his flock of followers and thus strengthen their 
own moral foot-hold. The November quarterly meetings that 
are here mentioned were intended by the good Parson to be 
meetings of great interest to his church, as well as to himself per- 
sonally. The good Parson Witherman had traveled all over his 
circuit which was quite an extensive one, and had made much 
boast and ado of the spiritual powers that he would display at his 
November quarterly meetings. In fact the good Parson had in 
his religious fervor taken his future November prospects as a text 
and had made it his sole spiritual theme for months before, and 
people of all forms of opinion flocked to the good Parson’s op- 
pointments, and such was the excited state of the public mind 
that the largest meeting houses in the Territory would not seat the 
immense throngs of people that came to hear the good Parson’s 
opinions of schismatics, and those in particular that strayed from 
his flock and went over to the other churches. The good Parson 
boldly asserted what he would do at his November quarterly 
meetings, and how he would heal over the alleged schism in his 
church, and how he would strip the mask from the eyes of the 
poor deluded members that had suffered themselves to be blind- 
folded and led astray by professed preachers of the Gospel. 

The good Parson loudly proclaimed that he would make the 
old schismatics that had strayed away from his flock return with 
the tear.s of repentence in their eyes and beg to be pardoned of 
their sins and to be taken back within the stronghold of his sav- 
ing faith ; of course all of these spiritual boasts that good Parson 
Witherman had in his religious zeal made, reached the ears of 
all the preachers and exhorters and lesser lights in Theology, and 
they all began to look forward to the good Parson Witherman ’s 
November meetings with interest, and indeed with fear. For if 
the good Parson should prove able to fulfill his undertakings, 
there would be every reason to look well to the pillars of their 
own churches. So when the appointed time for the November 
meetings rolled around, the good Parson Witherman was in his 
pulpit and ready to carry Qtit and fulfill his promises to the letter. 


THE HID DEE TREASURE CLT OLD UZARRO. 127 

Many rival exhorters and preachers were present to look after the 
interests of their respective churches. 

When the good Parson Witherman had his meetings fairly 
under headway, and was moving all with his touching powers of 
eloquence, the rival preachers that were in attendance could be 
seen to look at each other and nod and shake their heads and grin 
and smile in derision at the good Parson’s views of the Scriptures. 
And’ that was not all ; as the meetings progressed, and the good 
Parson was rousing many from their moral slumbers, the rival 
preachers and exhorters began to look more and more uneasy. 
Some of them were seen to look over in the worldly corner of 
the meeting-house and smile approvingly when Thomas Jefferson 
Tobias took a chunk of the clay chinking that closed up the 
ctiinks of the log wall, and threw it at a cur that entered the 
house and lay down under a pew. Indeed it was very well under- 
stood by the friends of the good Parson Witherman that several 
exhorters and preachers of favorable repute were winking at the 
wicked proceedings that were going on over in the social corner 
where Thomas Jefferson JT)bias was respected and looked up to. 
It was also noticed that one of the preachers that attended the 
good Parson Witerman’s November meetings put his handker- 
chief up to his mouth as if to suppress a laugh when a friend of 
Thomas Jefferson Tobias put his face up against, the window on 
the outside and commenced caterwauling. These rival preachers 
that attended the good Parson’s meetings were in attendance of 
course, to take note of what they considered the heresies of the 
good Parson, and would ridicule the heretical doctrines of the 
good Parson when they mounted their respective pulpits, for these 
rival preachers well knew that their respective flocks would be 
pleased to hear the good Parson and his absurd theories of heaven 
and hell stigmatized and made unpopular throughout the whole 
of the Arkansas Territory. But to return to the subject of the 
combined corn-husking and quilting frolic. 

When the good Parson was fully informed of the causes that pro- 
duced so much discord and confusion at his meetings, he consid- 
ered and weighed well the heavy responsibilities that rested on 


128 


PA TRICK O' MONIGHAN, OR 


him. He saw that he had made a very bad blunder and thought 
that he would be able to repair it. So he undertook, at his next 
meeting to make an apology to the young ladies and gentlemen 
that he had so thoughtlessly offended. But when he had begun 
his compromising sermon, and had been speaking some ten or 
fifteen minutes, some worldling that clearly illustrated the doc- 
trine of total depravity, threw a lump of the clay chinking that 
he had taken from the side of the meeting house, at the good 
Parson’s head. The piece of clay barely missed the good 
Parson. The whole house roared with laughtler when the piece 
of' hard clay whizzed past the good Parson’s head and struck 
the wall beyond. It would seem that the rival preachers and 
exhorters that were present, enjoyed the outlandish act. The 
throwing of the hard clav at the good Parson’s head roused all 
his pugnacious proclivities, and he began to view the case in its 
true physical and worldly light, and after severely scourging, those 
that were performing the edicts of his Satanic Majesty, the good 
Parson wound up his sermon by proclaiming himself able to 
overcome Satan and all his cohorts whether in the guise of corn- 
husking and quilting frolics, or under the mantle of saints. 
When the good Parson had finished his short, condemnatory 
exhortation, he adjourned his meeting over till the next evening. 

During all this anarchy and' confusion, Jacob Jonah, the in- 
valid hunter, who was attending the meetings on account of some 
social relations that he had with the young ladies in attendance, 
sat in a middle pew, and was an eye witness of the infamous con- 
duct of the rival preachers and their ally, the notorious Thomas 
Jefferson Tobias. 


CHAPTER XVIII. 


Exploits of Jacob Jonah on Land. 

T he piece of hard clay that was taken from a chink in the 
wall and thrown at the good Parson Witherman’s head be- 
came “the meetinghouse ghost,” and was the focus around 
which the enemies of the good Parson concentrated their com- 
bined forces. When the piece of clay was thrown at the good 
Parson, confusion followed which all the oratorical powers of the 
good Parson failed to quell. So, as has been observed, he dis- 
missed his congregation, and made the announcement that he 
would hold forth on the following evening at the usual hour. 
After the good Parson had dismissed his congregation, he 
found that his exposition of the Gospel was sneered at, and great- 
ly ridiculed by those that he had heartily hoped would return to 
his church, and so many taunts and threats were thrown out and 
aimed for the hearing of the good Parson by those that he had 
hitherto considered peaceful and religiously inclined, that he 
took fear for his own temporal safety, and he, with others of his 
faithful followers, elbowed their way through the crowded aisle of 
the meeting-house, and made their way off through the darkness 
towards their lodgings. 

When the good Parson and his faithful followers were out of 
the meeting-house, and safe under the dark, friendly pall of night, 


13 ° 


PATRICK O' MONIGHAN, OR 


the good Parson called to his side his faithful follower, dear old El- 
der Goodlove, who had so faithfully adhered to his cause through 
every difficulty and sorrow, and the two friends considered what 
was for the best. 

When the noisy conspirators issued from the meeting-house, 
they set up a hooting and a yelling that was of the most barbar- 
ous character. And as the good Parson and the faithful Elder 
Goodlove stood under the friendly shade of night but a short 
distance away, they could hear many threats against the “ old 
heretic,” as they would sneeringly call the good Parson Wither- 
man. When the excited mobbish conspirators issued from the 
meeting-house, they went away but a short distance to a cross 
roads, and there they set up their mobocracy, and naturally 
enough debated the utterances and actions, motives and designs 
of the good Parson Witherman. Some of the conspirators were 
free to admit that they saw the horrid piece of clay chink that 
flew through space toward the head of “ the old heretic. ” Others 
maintained that there was nothing so substantial as a lump of 
clay whizzed past the “ old heretic’s head.” And so the debate 
went on as the mobbish crowd first swayed this way and then 
that way in matters of opinion. Some would make out that the 
piece of clay chink was but an airy nothing or phantom that 
arose from the heated brain and burdened conscience of the “ old 
heretic.” And others were led to the opinion by Thomas Jeffer- 
son Tobias who thought that if a missile flew past the “ old her- 
etic’s head,” it was but an accidental wandering clod that had 
been thrown by the hand of some worldly youth on the outside 
at a stray cur, and that the clod had missed its mark and entered 
the open door, and continuing in its orbit, passed near the “old 
heretic’s head,” and that in the trifling circumstance there could 
not be any malice or menace to the “old heretic.” 

The whys and wherefores of all these circumstances, which as 
long as there were no better positions to hold, were pretty gen- 
erally believed and acquiesced in by the mobocracy at the cross 
roads, till a better theory of the wandering lump of clay was 
given. An old schismatic that had been the first to raise the cry 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 131 

of heresy against the good Parson, and that had used his utmost 
endeavors ever since his own backsliding, to widen the chasm in 
his former church till it would swallow up the good Parson 
Witherman, was one among the howling mobocracy at the cross 
roads. This old schismatic had, as it would seem, approved of 
the theory of Thomas Jefferson Tobias, when that gentleman ad- 
vanced the theory that the missile was a wandering meteor of clay 
that had missed its mark, and accidently invaded the meeting- 
house. But there arose a new theory from the fertile, evil re- 
sources of the old schismatic, and he crowned himself with a 
wreath of honor and glory by advancing new thoughts on the 
vexed and debatable question of the clod of clay, that had such 
a roiling effect on the good Parson’s meetings, as well as on the 
mind of the good Parson himself. The old satanic schismatic, 
after many credible circumstances on which to found a belief had 
been advanced and debated, commenced his weird story of the 
supernatural by saying that in his own mind the real genuine cause 
of the disturbance in the “ old heretic’s meeting,” had not as yet 
been divined ; that as for himself, he was willing to believe that 
the wicked course of the “old heretic” had been so obnoxious 
to the powers of light and truth, that a miracle had that very 
night been performed before the open eyes of all, as it would ap- 
pear quite clear to the dullest of understanding, when all that 
was dark and unseen in the mystery would be properly explained 
away. The old schismatic began by saying that he himself was 
sitting back in a rear pew among his highly esteemed worldly 
friends, and that no clod of clay was sent out on such a wicked 
errand from the quarter where he sat. But that when he was 
sitting still in obedience to his own good breeding, and listening 
and weighing each word as it came from the “ old heretic’s lips,” 
he saw something flying along the ceiling above, and that at first 
sight he mistook the flying object for a bat, but that he immedi- 
ately afterwards heard something substantial strike the 
wall in the rear of the “old heretic.” Whereupon the “ old 
heretic ” began to rave and rant, and cut such crazy didoes, and 
to threaten his congregation as if he were possessed of an unclean 


/ 


132 


PATRICK O' MONIGHAN, OR 


spirit that wanted to tear down and destroy the whole congrega- 
tion that were listening so attentively to the “ old heretic’s 
views of the Gospel.” When the old schismatic had gone on 
in this kind of an insinuating strain for some time, the whole 
crowd of riff-raff characters that were gathered at the cross-roads 
crowded around him and gave him undivided ear as he made his 
weird religious speech. And the whole crowd of riff-raff char- 
acters were, as it would appear, almost spell-bound when the wily 
old schismatic gave it as his unbiased opinion that the meeting- 
house had been that very night visited by a spectre that was sent 
by a supernatural agency to haunt the meetinghouse, and that 
the piece of clay, if it were clay, was cast by an invisible and 
spiritual hand. 

When the wicked old schismatic had made his theory clear 
and plain, and told all that he knew and thought on the myste- 
rious lump of clay, all other theories were at once abandoned, 
and that of the old schismatic was taken as a standard, and the 
crowd of rough characters that were gathered at the cross-roads 
dispersed, and talked on their way homeward of “ the meeting- 
house ghost.” The good Parson Witherman and his dear old 
friend Elder Goodlove were attentive listeners at a convenient 
distance away to the proceedings at the cross-roads. 

When the crowd at the cross-roads dispersed, the good Par- 
son and his faithful companion went their respective way to the 
home of Elder Goodlove where the two friends exchanged many 
opinions about the future prospects of the good Parson Wither- 
man ’s protracted meetings. The two friends when they awoke 
the next morning continued to discuss the future outlook, and 
they were free to admit that the ghost theory of the old schismatic 
was very liable to raise a wind that would sweep away all the 
moral influences of the good Parson Witherman ’s protracted 
meetings. After much discussion the two friends thought it ad- 
visable to learn something about the rumors that might be going 
the rounds of the neighboring settlements in regard to the last 
night’s meeting, for they were greatly afraid that the ghost story 
of the old schismatic would gain strength with age and work 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 133 

much trouble. So Elder Goodlove set out on horseback to travel 
through the nearest settlements, and to pick up whatever he could 
find of interest of either good or evil report. 

The faithful Elder Goodlove had not traveled far till he found 
that the only topic of conversation was “the meetinghouse 
ghost ” that flew along the ceiling in the form of a bat and men- 
aced the “ old heretic,” by whizzing past his head and striking 
the wall behind as a lump of dry clay, and then at once took up 
its abode in the “ old heretic,” and set him raving mad. So 
wherever faithful Elder Goodlove would go he found that the 
lump of clay chink that had been taken from the wall and thrown 
at his good Parson had been transformed into a ghost, and let 
him go where he would he could hear the same thing in every- 
body’s mouth. There was nothing thought of or talked of but 
“ the meetinghouse ghost.” And when faithful Elder Goodlove 
would give it as his candid opinion that there was-nothing super- 
natural or spectral appeared at the good Parson Witherman’s 
meeting, and that the alleged apparition was but a clod of clay 
set in motion by some worldling under the ban and instigation 
of the devil, the people would pretty generally sneer at his sim- 
plicity and quote from the sayings of Thomas Jefferson Tobias 
and the old schismatics and backsliders that were going around- 
the country gaining great popularity and credit by spreading the 
story of “ the meetinghouse ghost.” The faithful Elder Good- 
love was soon made aware that the people had lost all faith in 
the good Parson Witherman’s theories of heaven and hell. The 
faithful Elder also found that the rival preachers that lived about 
the settlement had taken advantage of “ the meetinghouse ghost ” 
to advance their own interests, and were going about to their 
neighbors and inquiring of their followers if they could not re- 
member the wise and prophetic predictions that they, the preach- 
ers, had made about how the heretical career of the good Parson 
Witherman would end. So the old schismatics, the backsliders, 
the rival preachers, and Thomas Jefferson Tobias and his riff-raff 
following, all found “the meetinghouse ghost” a keen, two- 


134 


PA TRICK O’MONIGHAN, OR 


edged sword with which to avenge themselves on the good Par- 
son Witherman. 

The good Parson had on previous occasions made his moral 
threats how he would scourge the various characters above men- 
tioned, and it would seem that the nether powers had got the 
upper hand at the good Parson’s November quarterly meetings. 
For who could imagine a meaner and lower piece of cunning 
than that which the enemies of the good Parson Witherman de- 
vised. The bare story of their devilish proceedings would it- 
self appear supernatural, were not the inventors of the scheme to 
destroy good Parson Witherman known to be full of the weird 
powers of darkness. The thought that these evil doers could 
take a piece of the clay chink from the wall and throw it at 
the good Parson, and then contort the mean act into “ the meet- 
inghouse ghost ” story, that revolutionized thought and turned 
many from the old and well-established ways of thinking, would, 
if not supported by many convincing circumstances, be left by all 
reasoning minds on the extreme verge of probability. But as 
extremely improbable as the story might appear to one at this 
distance of time, at that time it is well known that this story 
took and spread like wild fire, and consumed all before it ; so 
that long before the night of the succeeding day after the unfor- 
tunate meeting, the whole country had been informed of the 
alarming spectre that appeared in the good Parson Witherman’s 
meetings. Thomas Jefferson Tobias and other enemies of the 
good Parson told the people throughout all the settlements how 
the “ old heretic ” took on and danced about when the spectre 
in the form of a bat flew along the ceiling and possessed the 
“ old heretic.” Of course the sayings of the good Parson that 
were of a wrathful nature, when the lump of clay chink was thrown 
at him, were contorted into proper shape to suit the purposes of 
Thomas Jefferson Tobias and the rival preachers. 

The good Parson Witherman became rather loud in his speech 
when the lump of clay had been thrown at him, and he had a 
manner of enforcing his deepest thoughts by stamping his feet 
on the floor and slapping his hands together in a way that some 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE DF OLD UZARRO. 


135 


would consider overdone. So that Thomas Jefferson Tobiasand 
his allies made up many queer and wild sayings and performances, 
and attributed them to the good Parson Witherman. Among the 
many other false speeches and actions that were attributed to the 
good Parson, they said that when the visible spirit in the form of 
a bat flew across the house, that the “ old heretic ” seemed to be 
seized with a frantic fit of rage and stamped his feet on the floor 
and uttered the most shocking oaths and blasphemies, and threat- 
ened Thomas Jefferson Tobias, and all his corn-husking and 
quilting frolicers, and all the rival preachers and schismatics and 
backsliders with instantaneous death, and the endless fires of 
hell, unless they would all come forward and bow at once to his 
moral yoke. Thomas Jefferson Tobias would also tell, whenever he 
would have favorable hearers to whom he wished to speak of his 
bravery, that he was just in the very act of springing forward and 
seizing the “ old heretic,” but the “ old heretic ” stopped short 
in his raAngs and sat down before he, Thomas* Jefferson Tobias, 
was able to execute his design. 

So when the faithful Elder Goodlove had traveled far enough 
over the neighboring seitlements to find out how the state of the 
public feeling was in respect to the good Parson Witherman’s 
November quarterly meetings, he returned before nightfall and 
gave the full and true account of the religious prospects, which 
were to say the best, very gloomy indeed, for “ the meetinghouse 
ghost” story was very generally believed by those of good stand- 
ing in the different rival churches. 

When the two friends, Witherman and Goodlove, had weighed 
and adjusted all the circumstances that were taken in connection 
with “ the meetinghouse ghost ” story, they were of the. unani- 
mous opinion that the November quarterly meetings should be ad- 
journed till after the corn-husking and quilting frolic that would 
soon come off in the big barn of Major Washington Beaver. By 
that time it was thought by the two friends that public opinion 
would subside and one great cause of commotion would be for- 
ever set at rest. And it was also thought advisable by the two 
friends, on account of the strange notions that had spread over 


136 


PATRICK O'MOAIGHAN, OR 


the country about “ the meetinghouse ghost,” and the religious 
and mental condition of the good Parson Witherman, that he 
should not go to the meetinghouse in person to give note of the 
discontinuance of his quarterly meetings, but that the faithful 
Elder Goodlove should go to the meetinghouse and make the 
announcement that the quarterly meetings would be discontin- 
ued till after the frolic in the big barn of Major Washington 
Beaver. The faithful Elder Goodlove of course, would not couch his 
language in any such bare-faced terms ; but was to make as favor- 
able a plea in behalf of his Parson as he could in his ingenuity 
devise, and that would be meet and proper on the occasion. 

The faithful Elder Goodlove was instructed to go and face 
the turbulent public in the meetinghouse, and say something to 
the effect that the good Parson Witherman was compelled to ad- 
journ his quarterly meetings over for a brief respite, till he would 
have recovered his exhausted and impaired strength and energies, 
which were prostrated for the time being, by his long continued 
and laborious exertions in the interest of religion and humanity. 
So, bent on this duty, the faithful Elder Goodlove went, when the 
proper hour arrived, to face as he and* his Parson had all along 
supposed what would be a turbulent and excited mass of humanity. 
But great was the faithful Elder’s surprise when he went to the 
meetinghouse and found all as still and quiet as the grave. The 
members that lived nearest the meetinghouse, and whose duty it 
was to light up the house were nowhere about, and all about the 
meetinghouse was still and dark. 

The faithful Elder did not grapple long with the mysterious 
silence that reigned about him till he came to a full understand- 
ing of the dark and ominous appearance of the meetinghouse. 
The story of “ the meetinghouse ghost,” that had appeared in 
the visible flesh of a bat the preceeding evening, had been de- 
bated all day long in the family circles at home and on the high- 
way, wherever two or three would chance to meet, and being a 
story that was verified by Thomas Jefferson Tobias and all his 
friends, and all the schismatics and rival preachers, and all that 
class in short that opposed what they considered the absurd doc- 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 


137 


trines that the good Parson Witherman held forth about heaven 
and hell. And so it was not difficult for the faithful Elder Good- 
love to understand why it was so dark and ominous about the 
meetinghouse. The old members that lived near, and whose 
duty it was to light up the house, shivered at the thought of “ the 
meetinghouse ghost,” as they sat around their own friendly 
hearths at home and gave the logs in the fire-place an extra 
punch to scare away the spectres that might seek admittance from 
above through the chimney. 

As the faithful Elder Goodlove sat in a dark corner of the 
meetinghouse and reflected on his dark surroundings, he could 
but think of the great revolution that the little lump of clay had 
worked, and he was at times almost half inclined to believe in 
the story of “ the meetinghouse ghost,” such were the revolu- 
tionary powers of the little lump of clay that was taken from a 
chink in the wall and thrown at the good Parson Witherman by 
some one of a malevolent and spiteful turn of mind. 

When the faithful Elder Goodlove saw how the little lump of 
clay had come in as a destroying angel, and destroyed and com- 
pletely overwhelmed the cause of the good Parson Witherman, 
he sat down in a lonely dark corner in the meetinghouse, and 
gave way to sobs and tears whilst he awaited the arrival of the few 
faithful that he expected would surely soon be along, together with 
the usual worldly and noisy crowd. The faithful Elder was not long 
in his dark place in the corner, till he heard the hoarse voice of 
Thomas Jefferson Tobias down at the cross roads but a short dis- 
tance away. The faithful Elder thought that the audience would 
soon be in, for he was apprised of the crowd that was gathering 
at the cross roads by the hum of voices that he could hear off 
in that direction. So he began to look about the house for a tal- 
low candle with which he could light up, and prepare to perform 
his sad mission in the most impressive way. But he scoured every 
nook and corner without finding a tallow candle, or any means 
of producing a light, and again sat down compelled as he was to 
do the very best he could amid such dark and gloomy prospects. 
So there the faithful Elder sat in gloomy silence intent on 


138 


PATRICK O' MONIG HAN, OR 


carrying out the will of the good Parson Witherman, and gave 
attentive ear to the hum of human voices that he could distinctly 
hear at the cross roads where the schismatics and followers of 
Thomas Jefferson Tobias were gathering and debating the prob- 
abilities of a second apparition of the bat-like spectre. The talk- 
ing down at the cross roads was soon hushed, and the faithful 
Elder was made aware that the people down at the popular 
retreat were advancing toward the meetinghouse, and it was not 
long till the faithful Elder could hear the low hum of many 
voices out in front of the meetinghouse door. The faithful' El- 
der kept serene and quiet, thinking that when a considerable 
crowd had gathered that they would be less fearful of the bat- 
like ghost that had caused so much torment the night before. 
So, as the faithful Elder had expected, when the crowd on the 
outside increased in numbers till each individual was made bold 
and took courage form the combined strength of all, some one more 
bold than the rest advanced and opened the meetinghouse door. 
Then the whole crowd out in front moved up to the open door 
and peered in through the darkness, and whispered and listened 
and considered well the perilous step they were about to take. 

When the faithful Elder saw, or rather heard — for the night 
was dark and misty, and threatening rain— the people massed 
about the door of the meetinghouse, he thought he would relieve 
their minds of all spectral thoughts of “ the meetinghouse ghost *' 
by advancing out and taking a position in the middle o.f the aisle 
where he could perform his mission with full moral effect. So he 
arose as quietly as possible from his dark corner and started for 
the aisle on tip-toes. 

But, unfortunately for the cause of the good Elder, there was 
a long legged table standing out in the aisle some distance from 
the dark corner where he sat, and which he was unable to see in 
the impenetrable darkness of the night, so in tip-toeing it along 
over the floor, he suddenly ran against the long legged table. 
The people at the meetinghouse door were all as silent as death 
and on the sharp lookout for some manifestations of “ the meet- 


139 


)■ * 

THE HIDDEN TEE AS C/EE OF OLD UZAEEO. 

inghouse ghost,” that had haunted the meeting the night before 
in the form of a bat. 

When the faithful Elder Goodlove ran against the long 
legged table that stood in the open aisle it tripped up his feet and 
the faithful Elder and the table fell over against' the row of pews 
on one side of the aisle, and set them all in motion and falling 
against each other ; so that the faithful Elder and the table and 
pews all tumbling over each other produced a very distracting 
noise, and the good Elder in his excited state of mind uttered a 
wild ejaculation, that by no means lessened the frightful effect of 
his falling over the table and pews. As soon as the faithful El- 
der could regain his feet, he rushed out in front of the meeting- 
house, still hoping to retrieve the disaster of the evening. But 
when he got straightened up and out in the open road in front of 
the meetinghouse, he could hear the spectre-haunted people run- 
ning homeward, and could hear the affrighted women and chil- 
dren screaming, as if “ the meetinghouse ghost ” were inflicting 
its harrowing torments. The faithful Elder could hear the clat- 
tering hoofs of the horseman’s steed as he dashed away homeward 
to find security from the hobgoblin in the “old heretic’s meet- 
inghouse,” as the worldlings would contemptuously refer to the 
good Parson Witherman, whenever they found cause to speak 
of his name. 

The faithful Elder returned to the good Parson Witherman, 
and told how unfortunately he had concluded his mission, and 
the two friends thought it advisable to abandon all thought of 
holding meetings till the cause of the excitement could be satisfac- 
torily explained away; for “ the' meetinghouse ghost ” held 
sway over all the moral minds throughout all the settlements in 
the Arkansas Territory, and ^>ver the border in southeastern 
Missouri “ the meetinghouse ghost ” was talked of with much 
interest and supported with a fair degree of faith. 

The worst of it all, which Witherman and Goodlove well 
knew, was that several old members that were still faithful to the 
doctrines of the good Parson Witherman were at the door of the 
meetinghouse, accompanied by their wives and children, peering 


140 


PATRICK O’MONIGHAN, OR 


in through the darkness, when the faithful Elder Goodlove 
tumbled over the long legged table and pews, and performed the 
part of “ the meetinghouse ghost ” with such sublime and dis- 
astrous effect ; and Witherman and Goodlove well knew that 
no moral scheme that they could set on foot would be able to 
counteract the unfortunate performance of the faithful Elder 
Goodlove, and to recover their frightened followers from the 
moral effect of “ the meetinghouse ghost,” that acted such a lofty 
part in the person of the faithful Elder Goodlove. In fact, 
Witherman and Goodlove could but expect a greater falling 
off in the church, since the blind performance of the faithful El- 
der Goodlove had cleared the minds of all from every shadow of 
doubt and established “ the meetinghouse ghost ” as one of the 
invisible spirits that loved to revel in darkness. 

So it was with sorrow that Witherman and Goodlove looked 
on the fading star of truth, for many old members would surely 
go over to the side of the schismatics and backsliders, and would 
walk arm in arm with the worldly followers of Thomas Jefferson 
Tobias. 


V 





CHAPTER XIX. 

Exploits of Jacob Jonah on Land. 

T HE capricious • “ meetinghouse ghost ” did not vanish 
after the unfortunate conclusion of the good Parson With- 
erman’s November meetings. The freakish spectre would not 
down, but remained in full spiritual power, and “ the 
meetinghouse ghost,” and “ the haunted meetinghouse,” were 
the all-absorbing themes of public interest. The spectre-like 
performance of the faithful Elder Goodlove was soon known all 
over the adjoining settlements. And wherever the story was 
told, it had the effect of destroying the remaining influence of 
the good Parson Witherman ; so that when the blind perform- 
ance of the faithful Elder Goodlove was^ well spread over the 
settlements, the influence of the good Parson Witherman was at 
an end, and wherever one would go he could hear of nothing but 
“ the haunted meetinghouse ” and “ the meetinghouse ghost.” 

When the people became excited over the blind stumbling of 
the faithful Elder Goodlove, the good Parson Witherman hid 
himself away in the thick woods where he remained secreted, 
and appeared to none but his dear confidential friend, the faith- 
ful Elder Goodlove. 

In a day or two after the unfortunate performance of the 
faithful Elder Goodlove, the people began to flock from all parts 

141 


142 


PATRICK O'MONIGHAN, OR 


of the country to see “ the haunted meetinghouse,” and marvel 
at its spectral and ominous appearance ; whilst in the meantime 
the good Parson Witherman hid away from the public gaze, and 
sent the faithful Elder Goodlove out to learn all he could about 
the state of public opinion, and to try to convince the people 
that he was the cause of so much disturbance among the pews in 
the darkness. But the true story of the faithful Elder received 
but little or no credit, and his blind performance among the 
pews had so strengthened the faith of the people in “ the meet- 
inghouse ghost,” that any speech that the faithful Elder could 
make on the spectral subject, was received without any good 
effect. For when the faithful Elder fell over the table and pews, 
he caused so much alarm among the people that were gathered 
at the door, that they all took to such precipitate and irregular 
flight, that many were run over by their affrighted friends and 
received severe bodily injuries, and as might be expected when 
this strong story of. “ the meetinghouse ghost ” was set agoing 
by so many credible eye, or rather ear, witnesses that had been of 
the. good Parson Witherman’s own following, it was received 
everywhere as the true version, and all that the faithful Elder 
Goodlove could do to overcome “ the meetinghouse ghost ” 
story and set up the truth in its stead, proved of no avail. The 
people had accepted “ the meetinghouse ghost,” it would seem, 
as a standard article in their faith, and they were not willing to 
give up “ the meetinghouse ghost ” for what was but common- 
place and natural. / So that in a few days after the blind per- 
formance of the faithful Elder Goodlove, “ the meetinghouse 
ghost” was the power that none could dispute, and thus, by 
widening and extending the influence of “the meetinghouse 
ghost,” Thomas Jefferson Tobias and his wicked and cunning fol- 
lowers hoped to overthrow whatever future prospects the good 
Parson Witherman might still hang on to with a last despair- 
ing hold. 

The people that would visit “'the haunted meetinghouse” 
in the meantime as a general thing were not disappointed, but 
went away satisfied with “ the meetinghouse ghost,” for Thomas 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 


143 


Jefferson Tobias and the old backsliding schismatics had a con- 
federate in their plots secreted up in the loft of “the haunted 
meetinghouse.'’ The confederate, of course, hid away as he was 
in the dark loft, could play the part of “ the meetinghouse ghost ” 
with terrifying effect. No one in the neighborhood had the 
courage to go alone past “ the haunted meetinghouse ” after 
nightfall. In fact, strange cries and peculiar and weird lights 
could be seen at “ the haunted meetinghouse ” by those that 
lived miles away in the forest. 

But whilst “ the meetinghouse ghost” was in power and 
made every one feel doubtful, the grand, social event of the sea- 
son that was to take place in the big barn of Major Washington 
Beaver, was not forgotten by the frolicers during the excitement 
that was occasioned by “the meetinghouse ghost.” The great 
social importance that was attached to the grand gathering of 
male corn-huskers and female quilters, could not be obscured by 
the religious revolution that was destroying the strongest pillars 
in the good Parson Witherman’s church. Heralds were sent out 
a week before to invite all that lived in the neighboring settle- 
ments, which meant all persons living within a day’s journey of 
the big barn of Major Washington Beaver. 

The evening appointed for the grand social event, proved to 
be one of the most balmy of the Indian summer, and in the 
gloaming of evening, squads of ten or twelve young men and 
young women could be seen emerging from the roads and paths 
leading from the surrounding woods to the big barn. Now and 
then a gray- haired pioneer would appear on the scene with a 
longing look, as if to recall the frolic and hey-day of his early 
youth. 

And as strange as it may appear, the faithful Elder Goodlove 
was one of the first to reach the scene of the frolic. He had been 
sent as an emmissary by the good Parson Witherman, who was, 
it would seem, determined to keep the faithful Elder on the look- 
out, so as to keep posted on all that was said about his future 
prospects. And so it was that the faithful Elder was one of the 
first on the premises of Major Washington Beaver, and mingled 


144 


PATRICK O' MONIGHAN, OR 


among the frolicers, and took a full hand in the corn-husking 
scenes, and when the frolicers were all gathered into the barn, 
and all was in readiness, a “ Captain ” was chosen to take charge 
of the corn-huskers who surrounded an immense heap of 
unhusked corn that was heaped up in one end of the barn, and a 
“Queen” was chosen to take charge of the young ladies that 
surrounded the quilts that were stretched on frames in the other 
end of the barn. 

The corn-huskers and quilters commenced their operations 
and proceeded without interruption for about two hours, save a 
little more than usual vivacity might be observed among the corn- 
huskers, and it was soon observable that the longer the corn- 
huskers husked, the more social noisy and talkative they became, 
till it began to appear as though everybody was talking, and no 
one listening to anything but his own brilliant remarks. 



The hours wore away and so did the heap of corn, and win 


the great heap had almost disappeared, and had been tossed into 
the bins near by, there was quite a noticeable falling off in the 
numbers of the corn-huskers, and even the faithful Elder Good- 
love was missing. This strange circumstance was discovered by 
Jacob Jonah, the hero of this narrative. Jonah had hismind bent on 
his work, and had not been watching the proceedings very closely. 
He was anxious to get through with the corn-husking, so that 
when the work would be over and the corn out of the way, the 
floor could be cleared off and the dance and music inaugurated. 

At that time there was in vogue a patent medicine labelled, 
“ The'Mississipi River Invigorator.” Every grocer in the Ar- 
kansas Territory kept the popular remedy on his shelves, for the 
“ Invigorator ” was indeed a very popular medicine, and the faith 
in its curative properties was very strong. The popular belief was 
that one bottle of “ The Mississippi River Invigorator ” would 
triumphantly combat and subdue the worst ills of the day, and it 
was pretty generally conceded that as a medicine, the “Invig- 
orator ” would rejuvinate the old, v and invigorate and buoy up 
the weak and young. 

The cause of the missing corn-huskers will now appear. To 


r 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 


145 


the barn there was a basement which had been used to stable 
horses and cows, but the horses and cows had all been taken out 
so as to give full sway to the corn-husking and quilting frolic. 
In the evening as the male frolicers came in, they would deposit 
their “ Mississippi River Invigorator ” in the basement of the 
barn. And it is well to remark that no man, without re- 
gard to his political or religious principles would be found out of 
doors in the night time without a bottle of the “ Invigorator ” in 
his pocket. It is true that in our times “ The Mississippi River 
Invigorator ” would be set down as nothing in fact, but a very 
cheap article of Mississippi River Whisky. But we must have 
regard to fhe times in thinking of such matters, and the “ Invigo- 
rator” as a medicine, was labelled under a very popular name, 
and was put up in large, square, quart bottles, and its quantity 
lent to its quality, and gave it moral as well as physical tone, and 
the “Invigorator” became the chief preventive used by the 
clergymen of all the churches, and it was the practice of the itin- 
erant preachers to lay in a good supply of the “ Invigorator ” 
whenever they attended a protracted camp meeting, or went on 
a long journey. For you must bear in mind that the clergymen 
even would take their whisky straight in those good old days. 

So it was when Jonah was husking away on the heap of un- 
husked corn before him, that he began to wonder and look around 
him to see what had become of the missing frolicers, and just 
when he was becoming very anxious about his missing companions, 
was somewhat alarmed by what appeared to be the smell of smoke 
that came up through a crack from the basement below. Jonah, 
however made no alarm of it to the few that still remained around 
the heap of unhusked corn, and put the matter out of his mind, 
and continued at his work, thinking to himself, no doubt, what 
a social time of' it he was about to have, and what an elegant fig- 
ure he was about to make among the young lady quilters,when the 
barn floor would be cleared off and the music and dancing would 
succeed. Dancing, it may be well to remark, on such occasions 
did not commence till about midnight ; by that time all the corn 
would be husked and the young ladies would have their work 


146 


PATRICK O' MONIGHAN, OR 


completed on the quilts, when a hearty meal would be eaten, 
and then the dance would begin and . continue till the dawn 
of day. 

But a second time the smoke came puffing up through the 
crack from the basement below in such strong perfumes, too, that 
Jonah could no longer be baffled by his dancing prospects, or be 
deceived by his own senses, and he immediately proceeded to 
the basement below to investigate the premises. But when he 
reached the basement he was almost suffocated with the cloud of 
smoke together with the sickening stench of the burning manure 
that came puffing up in his face when he entered the basement. 
Yet he persevered to unravel the mystery, and upon reaching an 
inner department of the basement, there lay Thomas Jefferson 
Tobias, stupefied and asleep, and a short distance from one of 
his feet lay an overturned candlestick, and a still burning tallow 
candle, whilst by his side lay an almost emptied bottle of “ The 
Mississippi River Invigorator.” It took Jacob Jonah but an in- 
stant to comprehend the facts. Thomas Jefferson Tobias had 
gone below, lit the candle, and then made heavy draughts on the 
bottle of “ Invigorator ; ” and in tumbling over in his stupor, he 
had kicked over the candlestick in such away that the candle had 
ignited with a few scattering straws, and the flame had crept 
along till it caught denser masses of rubbish and produced the 
conflagration. Jonah, of course, instinctively laid hold of Thom- 
as Jefferson Tobias, and dragged him outside of the barn and 
placed him behind a large stump some distance away, and out of 
reach of the flames. But unfortunately, whilst Jonah was dragging 
Tobias away from the burning barn, some one on the inside 
sounded the alarm of fire which afterwards left a circumstance 
that lead some to believe that Jonah was the incendiary. 

At the first sound of alarm, the quilters and hiiskers, the wo- 
men and the men made a rapid exit from the barn, and in the 
excitement and confusion, many were trampled down and se- 
verely bruised. Some made for the paths that led homeward 
through the forests, and many became bewildered and w r ere lost 
in the woods all night. The sailor’s experience of Jacob Jonah 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 


147 


in this excitement gave him the lead in coolpess and self-posses- 
sion. He knew that many of the corn-huskers were asleep in the 
great piles of husks ; so he rallied some of the bravest to his as- 
sistance, and proceeded to arouse the sleepers. But Jonah soon 
found that many of the sleepers were so palsied from the effects 
of “ The Mississippi River Invigorator,” that they were unable 
to crawl out, or even hear the cries of alarm, and Jonah found it 
a very difficult task to uncover and drag out all the sleepers. The 
flames spread very rapidly and all had to quit the barn. Jonah 
had done all in his power to save the lives of the stupefied husk 
ers. And after all were out of th^ barn and standing around 
and gazing at the cloud licking flames, a moving object was seen 
to issue from the smoke and flames. All eyes were turned to the 
object. Who, or what could it be, was the question of all. When 
the object got fairly outside, it unfolded itself and arose to its 
feet, and then it was known to be Elder Goodlove that had been 
sent to the frolic to look after the interests of his church. The 
faithful Elder had taken too many stupefying draughts of the 
“ Invigorator.” 

When the barn was reduced to ashes, no dead bodies were 
found, but the remains of one hundred and forty-four bottles of 
“ The Mississippi River Invigorator,” were counted in the ruins. 
But the tragedy was not ended with the burning of the barn. 
Would that it had ended there. 

The next morning and after the first flush of excitment had 
subsided, the pros and cons of the fire were discussed, and much 
was said about how the fire originated, and the subject of the fire 
branched out and took in a very wide range. Every one had his 
or her own theory about the cause of the fire ; yet Jonah carried 
the secret of the whole mystery, and when asked by any of the 
frolicers for his opinion, he was discreet enough to give out some 
fanciful theory of the fire. He was determined to . keep his 
knowledge of the fire a secret, as he knew that no power on earth 
could restore the burned barn. Besides, it would not be wise in 
any event to implicate Thomas Jefferson Tobias in the accusation 
as the accuser would at once be condemned to suffer such pun- 


148 


PATRICK O' MONIGHAN, OR 


ishment as Tobias should prescribe. Nor would Jonah have 
made any attempt at divulging his secret, had not the fatal “ In- 
vigorator ” again interfered with his cautious motives. Jonah 
had determined to suppress the truth and allow it to go down in 
oblivion with the ashes of the barn. He had determined to go 
off about his business, and allow the raving crowd of frolicers to 
take their own course. But when he had taken a few stiff draughts 
of the “ Invigorator,” he felt his original purpose giving way 
before the stimulating boldness that the “ Invigorator ” imparted. 
Thomas Jefferson Tobias had commenced his usual insolent be- 
havior, and had entered the arena with his false theories and 
stories about how the fire had started, and as the opinion of To- 
bias was already much sought after in all grave public matters, 
his theories of the fire on this occasion could but have their usual 
important character. Whilst on the other hand our hero, Jacob 
Jonah was far from the scenes of his fore-fathers, and his royal 
pedigree was wholly unknown in the Arkansas Territory. But 
the audacious Tobias assumed to know all about the source of the 
fire, and pretended at first that the cause of the fire was a secret 
known only to him and that he would keep his secret till a future 
time, when he would unfold it with proper effect, and so on in 
an insinuating way the infamous Tobias worked on the feelings 
of the frolicers till he had them all on the anxious seat to find 
out his secret. 

When Tobias had the feeling worked up to suit the full 
measure of his wicked heart, he went around, serpent-like, 
among all the young ladies, with most of whom in fact, he was 
very popular, and whispered in their ears his fiendish story that 
the faithful Elder Goodlove was the incendiary. It was a few 
hours before daylight that the infamous Tobias set his story 
afloat by whispering it in the ears of the young ladies ; so that by 
sunrise everybody was possessed of the secret of the fire, for as 
soon as the infamous Tobias would whisper his fiendish story in 
the ears of a young lady, she would at once impart her secret to 
her next friend, and so the story that Tobias was pretending to 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 


149 


keep a secret, spread as fast as the fire, before it had spread 
over the barn. 

The faithful Elder Goodlove had suffered severely in the con- 
flagration. Having imbibed too freely of “ The Mississippi River 
Invigorator,” he had become stupefied and was asleep in the 
husks, when he was aroused by the flames of the burning barn, 
and he had gone after the fire to a neighboring house and laid 
himself up for repairs, and the faithful Elder smelt for all the 
world like a very badly singed cat. 

Jonah saw what was brewing and about to issue forth. Tobias 
had found that his story of accusing the faithful Elder Goodlove 
took effect, and he had grown bold in his attack and was urging 
the crowd on. He insisted on going in a body to the house 
where the faithful Elder was confined, and taking him from his 
bed and making him confess the crime. 

Tobias continued to urge his popular measure till he had se- 
cured a few followers, and then with a deafening yell Tobias and 
his followers started on a run to the house where the faithful 
Elder Goodlove was receiving medical attention. With a hurrah 
Tobias informed the owner of the house and the medical attend- 
ants that were nursing the injured Elder, that he, the Elder, was 
the author of the fire, and that conclusive evidence had been dis- 
covered that made the guilt of the singed Elder plain, and bare 
of all doubt. 

The excitment became contagious ; the owner of the house 
and all the medical attendants could not stand on the word of 
so important a man as Thomas Jefferson Tobias. When all the 
frolicers had concurred in the general opinion of the faithful 
Elder’s guilt, the first impulse was to hang the singed and suffering 
Elder at once. 

Thomas Jefferson Tobias got possession of all “ The Missis- 
sippi River Invigorator ” that he could lay his hands on, and 
freely disbursed it without price among the maddened crowd. 
Tobias was making a glorious popularity. He met the smiles of 
the ladies at every glance, and why not ; Tobias had unearthed 
^he buried secrets of the scoundrel that came nearly burning them 


PATRICK O' M O NIG HA N, OR 


IS® 

all alive. And so it became a glorious sight to behold the cour- 
ageous and valliant Tobias arrayed in all that was so glorious to 
him, for he dearly loved the praise of the low, vulgar people. 
Tobias insisted on hanging the faithful Elder Goodlove without 
asking any questions, or taking any chances on his escape from 
the clutches of justice, unless the faithful Elder would confess his 
crime. A vote was taken which resulted in making the Elder 
confess his crime, or be hanged on the spot. 

The faithful Elder was requested to confess. Tobias was the 
questioner. The Elder would not confess; he was innocent, 
and had made his mind up to die, he said. So the bed cord was 
taken from the bed on which the faithful Elder rested, and 
fastened about his neck. Then one end of the rope was passed 
over a joist in the house in which he was confined, and he was 
pulled up and stretched by the neck till life was almost extinct. 
He was then let down, and after he had revived and had been 
given some time to get his breath, Tobias again asked him if he 
felt like lifting the burden from his conscience by confessing his 
crime, telling the faithful Elder that the next time he would be 
raised he would be left till dead. So, as the faithful Elder 
Goodlove could see no ray of hope only through confession, he 
confessed that he did the burning. 

Upon his confession a great shout was raised, and Tobias 
shouted himself hoarse over the turn that matters had taken. 
When the faithful Elder had confessed that he did the burning, 
it was unanimously agreed by all present that Thomas Jefferson 
Tobias should be the next sheriff of the county ; and many other 
flattering remarks were passed on the merits of the brave Tobias 
as he lead the faithful Elder Goodlove off to a log stable near at 
hand, which was to serve as a jail for the faithful Elder till Tobias 
could dispose of him as he should see fit. 

Yet as trying as all these proceedings were, our hero, Jacob 
Jonah kept still, seeing as he did that the popularity of Tobias 
carried everything before its grand swell. It was all, however, 
that Jonah could do to restrait) his turbulent feelings, for he had 
taken some heavy draughts of the “ Invigorator ” to hold up his 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 15 1 

enervated frame, and when he saw the infamous Thomas Jefferson 
Tobias leading the faithful Elder Goodlove off* to the log stable, 
he changed his rage into tears, and turned his back on the spec- 
tacle, for “The Mississippi River Invigorator ” was a kind of 
liquor that had a tendency to push a man forward and make him 
do rash things. And it was under the warming influence of the 
“ Invigorator,’ ’ that the infamous Tobias was able to keep up his 
criminal stifferting. * 

But now with all its faults, the “Invigorator” could not 
wash out the sacred truth that justice had long established in the 
breast of Jacob Jonah. 



CHAPTER XX. 


Exploits of Jacob Jonah on Land. 

A FTER the confession of the faithful Elder Goodlove, Thom- 
as Jefferson Tobias came in for the lion’s share of praise, 
for it was admitted on all sides, and by all parties of every shade 
of religious and poiltical faith, that it was the brave, bold, just, 
and impartial course of Thomas Jefferson Tobias that discovered 
the author of the burning of Major Washington Beaver’s barn. 
And praise it was above all else that the vanity of Thomas Jeff- 
erson Tobias craved. So when the faithful Elder Goodlove had 
been safely imprisoned in a log stable not far off, and strong 
guards placed over him, it was thought best and agreed to by all 
present that further proceedings should be discontinued until 
evening, as by that time by sending out runners, the news of the 
conflagration could be spread far over the adjoining settlements, 
and everybody of a public spirit would hasten to the scene of 
the barn burning, to offer condolence and friendship to the un- 
fortunate Major Washington Beaver as well as to see the singed 
Elder, whose countenance was supposed to bear strange, but con- 
vincing evidence of guilt. 

When the runners went out to call the settlers to the mass 
meeting that was to take place in the evening after the barn burn- 
ing, the name of Thomas Jefferson Tobias was heralded by every 


THE HIDDEN TEE AS URE OF OLD UZARRO. 153 

tongue as the hero of the ^occasion. So when it was determined 
to adjourn further investigation of the matter over till the even- 
ing, and horsemen were sent out in all directions to call the peo- 
ple together, many energetic hands were set to work to raise a 
speaker’s stand and platform, on which the heroic Thomas Jeffer- 
son Tobias could stand and address his fellow-citizens on the 
exciting theme of the burning of Major Washington Beaver’s 
barn. And in his speech it was expected of course, that the dis- 
tinguished orator would disclose his most remarkable foresight 
and judgment, and all about how he had unearthed the fiendish 
plot of the malicious Elder Goodlove ; so that all, both far and 
near, might know how the fiendish Elder Goodlove was found 
out in the commission of the dark and damnable deed. 

The meeting was designed to take place in the evening after 
dark, so that every one could attend without loss of valuable 
tim$. So when some set to work to raise a platform for the ora- 
torical purposes of the evening, others built several large log heaps 
of dry, seasoned timbers, so as to have the scene of the mass 
meeting well illuminated and lit up, so that every face might be 
made cheerful in the light that would proceed from the blazing 
log bonfires. Whilst every man’s hands were busy trying who 
should do most honor to Thomas Jefferson Tobias, he was also 
most heartily and affectionately remembered by all the young 
ladies for his chivalry and high bearing, and throughout the whole 
day long, preceding the evening mass meeting, enthusiastic and 
idolizing young ladies could be seen wandering away throughout 
the forests in all directions to gather all the wild flowers and 
mosses, and evergreens, and all the dainty and delicate shrubbery 
that retained the most delicate and charming of colors, and that 
were thought to be most soul-inspiring in beauty and grace. 
When the admiring young ladies had gleaned everything from 
the surrounding forests that had a consoling, spiritual influence, 
they set to work and with strong imaginations, twisted their floral 
collections into wreaths, garlands, bouquets and fancy ornaments 
of all kinds, so as to give the evening mass meeting in honor of 
Thomas Jefferson Tobias a beautiful and spiritual aspect. And 


154 


PA TRICK O' MONIGHA N, OR 


when the evening sun was set, and^the dark pall of night had 
fallen over the brilliant scene that was so well illuminated by 
the burning log-heap bonfires, it was plain to be seen that the 
mass meeting was a gigantic political and social affair, and public 
attention had been enlisted to a very remarkable degree even in 
very remote parts of the Territory. And it would, in fact, seem 
that the astounding news of the conflagration that had swept away 
Major Washington Beaver’s barn were carried on the very wings 
of thought throughout all the civilized and well advanced settle- 
ments in the Territory ; for excited, but firm and interesting faces 
could be seen moving around in the light of the blazing log-heap 
bonfire^, that lived many miles away, and all were bent on seeing 
justice met out to the notorious Elder Goodlove. 

And when the people were gathered in countless numbers 
arrund the blazing log- heap bonfires, an old pioneer mounted the 
platform and called the meeting to order, and in a few minutes the 
meeting was organized, after which much enthusiasm was manifest- 
ed and loud and unanimous calls were made for Thomas Jefferson 
Tobias, who was the hero of heroes that many had come frorp 
very remote parts of the Territory to see. But the chairman of 
the mass meeting paid no attention to the excited demonstrations 
of his fellow-citizens, only to call for and restore order, after 
which he appointed a committee of three leading citizens to con- 
duct the chivalrous Thomas Jefferson Tobias to the stand on the 
platform. 

Upon reaching the stand, Thomas Jefferson Tobias was greet- 
ed with loud and bewildering cheer after cheer from the assembled 
throng. Then came a shower of bouquets and spiritual gems 
rained from the hands of the hundreds of young ladies present. 
All of whom it would appear, enjoyed the fame and good name 
of Thomas Jefferson Tobias even to an unreasonable degree. 
The shower of fancy and spiritual ornaments continued to de- 
scend on the orator till he was overwhelmed in the profusion of 
the spiritual tokens of the affection and esteem in which he was 
held by all the young ladies there. Such is but the faint account 
of the offerings of floral, loving tribute that was paid to Thomas 


I 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD U7ARR0. iSS 

Jefferson Tobias for his public worth in making known to the 
public who the burner of Major Washington Beaver’s barn was. 
When the enthusiasm had subsided and Thomas Jefferson Tobias 
had recovered from the embarassment and modesty with which 
he was naturally afflicted, he began his popular oration amid tre- 
mendous huzzahs. And his speech was of the following tenor 
and meaning as understood by our hero, Jacob Jonah, who was 
on the spot as an attentive listener to all that was said. 

When Tobias began his speech, he said that he would direct 
his substaniial remarks to the explanation of all that was d^rk 
and mysterious, and of a weird and hidden nature about the great 
crime that had been committed. He said that what he was about 
to make public was concealed from the knowledge of all but 
himself and one of his most trustworthy friends. He said that 
in his infancy he was taught by his patriotic and philanthropic 
father, good old Emanuel Tobias, that he owed his first duty to 
his fellow-citizens, and should always put the public good above 
his own personal private gains, and that under the guidance of 
that loving, public spirit that he had inherited from good old 
Emanuel Tobias, that then slept beneath the soil of the Arkansas 
Territory, he had found out and was made able to inform his pub- 
lic hearers of all, perhaps, that they would like to know about the 
dark plot that was not to end with the comparatively insignifi- 
cant crime of burning Major Washington Beaver’s barn ; nay, 
the flames were expected to enwrap and consume every young man 
and young woman that at the time that the incendiary began his 
operations, was in the barn enjoying the corn-husking and quilting 
frolic. Tobias said that, with an eye to the public welfare, he had 
appointed himselfas a committee of one to watch the movements of 
the perfidious Elder Goodlove the evening before at the corn-husk- 
ing, for a secret report reached his ears from a strictly confidential 
source, one too, that left him no room for doubt, that a poison- 
ous and well-matured plot had been concocted between Parson 
Witherman and Elder Goodlove and their few contemptible fol- 
lowers that still adhered to Parson Witherman’s heretical tenets, 
whereby an untold quantity of “ The Mississippi River Invigora- 


PATRICK O'MOA/GHAN, OR 


156 

tor” was to be imported and drugged with deadly ingredients 
that would, when imbibed, take instantaneous effect. And the 
vile mixture thus prepared for its treacherous work was to be 
placed about the basement of the barn in such positions that the 
frolicers would be sure to find it, and become upset and stupefied 
thereby, and that the treacherous scheme was concocted in the 
interest of Parson Witherman, so that he, Thomas Jefferson To- 
bias and all his followers would be destroyed, in order that one 
of Parson Witherman’s prophetic speeches might be fulfilled. 
Wherein he had declared that he, Thomas Jefferson Tobias would 
surely come to a sudden and unexpected end by fire, on account 
of his iniquity, and that when Tobias would end his sinful life, 
that there would be no more heard of “ the meetinghouse ghost,” 
as he, Tobias, or one of his confederates was the original and only 
characters that destroyed his November meetings by playing the 
part of “ the meetinghouse ghost.” 

Tobias continued on with his blood-stirring oration and 
said that without imparting his secret to any of his companions 
at the corn-husking and quilting frolic, he had concealed him- 
self in the basement of the barn to watch the perfidious Elder 
Goodlove in his movements, as it had come to his ears that 
Elder Goodlqve, who was at the frolic, was to cooperate with ac- 
complices that were concealed in the adjoining woods, and would 
not appear openly at the frolic. And that as the Elder had been 
engaged in husking with the frolicers under the pretense of friend- 
ship that he intended to burn to death, he had taken close note 
of their stupefied condition as they swallowed his poisoned mix- 
ture, and thinking as he well might, that they would all very 
soon be stretched out in senseless sleep under the potent influence 
of the poisoned “ Invigorator,” he, the Elder, crept cautiously 
down below to make a holocaust of the corn-husking and quilt- 
ing frolicers. And that when the cunning Elder looked around 
and thought he was unobserved by human eyes, he took a piece 
of steel and a flint from his pocket and created a fire with as much 
coolness and unconcern, as if he were in the act of kindling a 
fire to cook his supper with. Tobias said that he most heartily 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 157 

wished it to be understood that he would be the last man in 
the Arkansas Territory to sound a false alarm, and through his 
over-caution in that regard he had received a very severe chas- 
tisement, for in his delay to make himself sure and sensible of 
what the perfidious Elder was about to do, the Elder looked 
around more cautiously when .he had aflame burning before him, 
and in the light of the flame discovered him, Tobias, in his hid- 
ing place ; and that when the Elder saw him in his hiding place 
the Elder laughed outright, as though he were performing some 
huge joke, and called to him, Tobias, and beckoned him to come 
forward and witness a mysterious chemical joke that he had to 
explain ; and that he, Tobias, was completely disarmed of his 
suspicion and seemed to be spell-bound, for he innocently ap- 
proached the Elder and his mysterious fire, and when he was 
leaning in his great amazement and wonder over the fire which 
seemed to have a most bewildering effect on him, the Elder 
raked the fire up in a little heap to prevent its spreading, and 
would now and then throw a few straws on the fire to keep up a 
flame, telling him, Tobias, all the time to keep his eyes stead- 
fastly fixed on the mysterious fire before him, as the most start- 
ling revelation that he was about to exhibit to him, Tobias, would 
repay him for all his time and trouble, and that he, the Elder, 
came down in the basement of the barn to perfect and practice 
on his chemical mysterious fire, after which, he, Tobias, might if 
he saw proper, call some of his lady friends down to witness the 
laughable free fire entertainment that he was preparing to give. 
Tobias said that after he had watched and listened to the Elder’s 
weird story for a few minutes, that the amazing doubts that be- 
clouded his mind began to give way to a bold incautious design, 
and that he was about to lay violent hands on the Elder and de- 
mand his surrender. But it would seem that the Elder had di- 
vined his very thoughts, for as quick as a flash of lightning could 
descend from a cloud, the Elder whipped out a bottle, uncorked 
it and threw the contents in his, Tobias’, face. Immediately in- 
sensibility set in and totally obscured his reason, for that was the 
last that he knew of himself till he was awaked and brought to a 


158 


PATRICK O'MONIGHAN, OR 


conscious feeling by a suffocating heat that at the time appeared 
like some horrible nightmare, and that he, Tobias, during the spel^ 
that reason was dethroned, must have involuntarily arose to his feet 
and miraculously fought his way through the fire and smoke, des- 
pite the evil powers of the Elder, and in his delirious ravings and 
wanderings, he must have stumbled up against the big stump and 
there fell down where he remained in a stupid, insensible state till 
found after the fire. 

Tobias said that the Elder was in all probability aware that he, 
Tobias, had made good his escape from the flames of the burning 
barn. And it was even fair to presume that during the insensible 
state of his mind, he had had a hand to hand encounter with the 
Elder, as he felt bruised in many places about the head and neck as 
if violent hands had been laid on him. And that the Elder’s own ac- 
tions proved him so guilty that his guilt could but be self-evident 
to every one ; for the Elder by staying in the barn when all others 
had abandoned it had proved his own guilt by his counterfeit 
actions, for the Elder was no doubt surprised at his failure when 
he, Tobias, and all his friends ran away with their lives, and so 
he remained below in the basement till the last moment, hoping 
thereby to disguise his treachery by making the people believe 
that he had been overcome by too much of “ The Mississippi 
River Invigorator.” In fact, Tobias thought it was fair to pre- 
sume that the notorious Elder Goodlove had attempted self-de- 
struction when he had once witnessed the escape of him, Tobias, 
and his friends. As the Elder knew, perhaps, that he, Tobias, 
would recover sensibility, and would be a living witness of all 
that had taken place about the mysterious fire down in the base- 
ment of the. barn. Tobias said that it was his own opinion that 
Providence had interfered and vouchsafed a hand in his behalf, 
else how could he have recovered and risen from the effects of the 
vile compound that the Elder had thrown in his face. And why 
did not the Elder cut his, Tobias, throat when he was powerless, 
and how did he escape from the clutches of the Elder and wan- 
der away so far from the barn, and quietly lay himself down to 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 159 

sleep behind the stump where he was found by some of his young 
lady friends after the barn was reduced to ashes. 

Tobias said that perhaps the Elder had failed in his attempt- 
ed suicide from the fact that he had not sufficient courage to hold 
' out in the fire till life was extinct, and that^t was the merest non- 
sense to suppose that the Elder had inbibed too much of “ The 
Mississippi River Invigorator,” and was crazy and demented 
when he, Tobias, encountered him down in the basement, and 
that he afterwards fell down senseless till aroused and driven from 
the burning barn in his singed condition. It was the opinion of 
Tobias that the Elder had spread the fire in the basement as 
soon as he had him, Tobias, under the influence of the poison 
that he had dashed in his face. Tobias complained also of his 
throat, and* said that his throat must have suffered a severe 
operation, as he had peculiar feeling in that quarter. That his 
delivery too was very much impeded by the terrible ordeal that 
his throat had suffered, and that he was fearful that his con- 
stitution had received a fatal stroke, that no time would be able 
to heal. 

During the oration of Tobias the maddened hearers were so 
wrought upon by the unvarnished, but thrilling story of Tobias, 
that they could hardly restrain the impulse of the moment, which 
demanded the immediate death of the faithful Elder Goodlove. 
The maddened men were on the point two or three times of 
starting for the stable where the faithful Elder was confined, such 
was the influence of the orator, Thomas Jefferson Tobias. 

During all these unholy proceedings, our hero, Jocob Jonah, 
was a silent looker on, and it would indeed seem that his time 
had already come to strike a blow for the right ; still he saw fit 
to keep cool, and to calculate well on his own personal safety. 
When Tobias had finished his oration, he stepped down from the 
stand to receive the greetings of his admirers. When everyone 
was rushing forward to take Tobias by the hand, loud calls were 
made for Marion Whitefield. Whitefield was a new comer that had 
been but a short time in the Territory, but he had been a 


i6o 


PATRICK O'MONIGHAN , 07? 


noted man at his old home in the good old State of North Car- 
olina, and had come to the Arkansas Territory, foreseeing, no 
doubt, favorable political prospects. 

But few calls were made for Whitefield till he came forward 
and took the stand and began by saying that in his opinion, his 
fellow-citizens could not, nor would not, be so ungrateful to aH 
that was noble and chivalrous in mankind as to forget the service 
that Thomas Jefferson Tobias had rendered the public when he 
discovered the incendiary Elder Goodlove. 

At this stage in the proceedings of the mass meeting, our 
hero Jacob Jonah stepped aside and made a considerable draught 
on a bottle of “The Mississippi River Invigorator,” so that he 
could keep his eyes open, for he had become very weary and ex- 
hausted. But to continue on with Whitefield’s speech - . He said 
that he was opposed to all violent modes of punishjnent, but in 
that especial case he was willing to suspend his lenient rule, and 
in behalf of Major Washington Beaver, and owners of barns gen- 
erally, hang the malicious Elder Goodlove by some means so 
high up between heaven and earth that all evil doers could wit- 
ness his fate from their most secret hiding places, in every nook 
and corner of the Arkansas Territory. And when so hung up, 
Whitefield said he wanted the body left to swing till the dry 
bones of the malicious Elder would rattle in the wind. 

Whitefield flattered the crowd in this way. He said that he 
was a self-instructed man, and had laid up his store of learning 
at night by the light of pine knots, for the limited means of his 
youth forced him to labor by day for his bread, and he took fur- 
ther praise on himself by saying that he was no lawyer nor preach- 
er, nor even a member of any church, but he thought he had a 
fair degree of common sense, or enough, at any rate to judge of 
the degree of punishment that ought to be met out to such 
criminals as the malicious Elder Goodlove was proved to be by 
the positive proof that was adduced by hisdistinguished, patriot- 
ic, and justice-loving friend, Thomas Jefferson Tobias. 

Seeing that the name of Tobias wrought up much enthusiasm, 
Whitefield proceeded to praise the hero of the night. He said 


THE HIDDEN TEE AS DEE OF OLD UZAEEO. 161 

that such a man as Tobias should thereafter be advised with in 
regard to the safety of our beloved government that had been 
handed down to us in a spotless state by the patriot fathers, and 
unless his countrymen in the Arkansas Territory were lost to all 
sense of honor and gratitude, Thomas Jefferson Tobias had risen 
Phoenix-like, from the ashes of Major Washington Beaver’s barn, 
and if there were ought of patriotism left in the Territory, Tobias 
would never be allowed to light down again in any of the humble, 
menial avocations of life, but would be placed, as soon as time 
and place would permit, in some office suitable to his genius and 
worth. 

At this point in Whitefield’s speech, according to the proper 
enumeration of these events, our hero, Jacob Jonah, was pretty 
well worked up to a sense of honor and justice. And the “ In- 
vigorator,” it would appear, had driven him on and dispelled all 
his cautious motives and left him in the attitude of a martyr that 
was prepared to crucify himself for the light. So when White- 
field had finished his speech in compliment of Thomas Jefferson 
Tobias, our hero, Jacob Jonah saw at a glance that if any doubt 
had existed in the minds of thosefgathered around the log-heap 
bonfires as to whether the Elder should suffer immediate death 
or not, all doubt was surely dispelled when the eloquent compli- 
ments of Whitefieid were heard. And the immediate hanging 
of the Elder was at once determined upon. It seemed that once 
the idea of hanging came to be the unanimous understanding of 
all that were gathered around the bonfires, all became ominously 
still, and all eyes were turned toward the log stable where the 
poor singed Elder was fettered and under guard. When our hero, 
Jacob Jonah, saw the ominous and foreboding look that came 
over the face of each and every one, he knew that if he were to 
act at all, that he must act at once. So with all that gentleness 
of manner which he had acquired from his associations with the 
world, and with that grace with which his nature was so well 
stocked, he raised his voice and said that if it were acceptable 
to the distinguished citizens of the Territory that were present, 

he would like to add a few remarks to what had already been 

11 % 


162 


PATRICK O'MOMGHAN , O/e 


said by the distinguished and honorable men that had preceded 
him, and that it was not his intent and purpose to throw any 
stumbling block in the way of his fellow-citizens to prevent the 
hanging of the Elder. And that as soon as he had made a tew 
remarks explanatory of what he saw the night before at the corn- 
husking and quilting frolic, he would be willing to join in the 
hanging entertainment. 

Whereupon Thomas Jefferson Tobias looked around at the 
crowd and smiled one of those serpent-like smiles that makes 
the untainted innocent blood run cold. And the crowd invol- 
untarily looked at their leader, Tobias, to see what recognition 
Jacob Jonah met with on his countenance. And when they saw 
his satanic smile they began to hiss and hoot at the request of 
our hero, Jacob Jonah, Instantly our hero felt his blood grow 
hot and impulsive, and so he walked up and mounted the stand 
in a rather excited manner without reasoning about what might 
be the consequences of his bold step, and what might become of 
him in the end. 

When our hero was mounted on the stand he bowed to the 
chairman and honorary officers of the mass meeting and then 
turned to face the astonished throng of faces that were turned up 
in wonder to watch our hero’s movements. Our hero had but 
turned around to face the crowd, and had not time to utter 
a syllable ' till, he was greeted with hisses and ridiculing 
laughter, and all kinds of mockery that would come of evil heart- 
ed men. But despite the scoffs of the multitude, our hero proceed- 
ed to say that he had taken a very active hand at the corn-husking 
and quilting frolic the night before, and that he had always con- 
sidered it a common prerogative that belonged *to both the well- 
bred and rich, and low-bred and poor to tell what they knew 
about public matters on such momentous occasions as that was. 
The nerve which our hero displayed on this eventful occasion 
seemed to wipe out some of the mean smiles that overspread the 
faces before him. 

So our hero began his observations again by saying that he 
had been in the Territory but one year and that he was poor and 


THE HIDDEN TEE AS DEE OF OLD UZAEEO. 163 

humble, and expected that he would always remain down in the 
humble walks of the average citizen ; and that he came to the 
Arkansas Territory because he preferred its salubrious climate 
to that of the sea ; and that in his youth he had cultivated the 
styles and costumes that were becoming to the character of a sea- 
man ; and that some of his manners were fashionable in the 
Arkansas Territory, and perhaps some were not ; and that his 
dear old father’s bones lay bleaching in the deep sea-bed of a 
northern sea where they were laid when in pursuit of an honest 
industry, catching the whale, and although his father did not 
lead him into all of the fastidious tastes and manners of the Ar- 
kansas Territory, yet he would forever adore his blessed name 
for leading him in his youthful blindness in the paths of truth ; 
and that Thomas Jefferson Tobias was a man of unimpeachable 
character, yet in this particular case, he, the honorable Thomas 
Jefferson Tobias, was a little off. 

When our hero reached that part of his speech that seemed 
to reflect on the word and character of Thomas Jefferson Tobias, 
there was instantaneous commotion and talking to each other all 
through the vast numbers that surrounded the log-heap bonfires. 
Tobias saw that the speech of Jacob Jonah must be nipped in the 
bud, or the whole story of truth would be let out. Tobias then 
saw that Jacob Jonah was the mysterious cause of his 
being hauled out of the barn and placed behind the big stump, 
and that Jacob Jonah was about to reveal that astounding fact, 
which might leave a slight impression of truth on the crowd. 

So when Tobias thought that our hero had gone far enough, 
he yelled out at the top of his voice, “ Take him down, he is an 
accomplice of Elder Goodlove.” And so began in this way to 
urge on the mobbish crowd. Tobias saw how it all was. Before, 
he thought that he himself might in his drunken delirium, have 
staggered out of the barn and stumbled up against the big stump 
and there fell down in a stupid state. But after he heard the 
plain hints of our hero, he saw through the whole mystery. So 
the villainous Tobias was determined to slay our hero on the spot. 
Tobias drew his firearm, but could not get a chance to shoot our 


164 


PATRICK O'MONIGHAN, OR 


hero without shooting through the crowd and killing some of his 
own personal friends at the same time. So Tobias urged on 
the crowd to commit the murder, thinking that there was 
no avenue of escape left for our hero. But our hero drew 
his firearm which he had concealed under his coat and menaced 
the crowd, whilst at the same time he commenced to back out of 
the crowd and away from the blazing bonfires. For our wily hero 
had not lost his coolness of mind, and knew that if he could only 
succeed in backing away about fifty yards from the light of the bon- 
fires that were blazing out in front of the speaker’s stand where he 
stood, that hd could turn his back on the excited mob and in the 
darkness run into the deep, dark woods near by with favorable 
chances of escape. So our hero, with his firearm in one hand 
and his hunting knife in the other, was making pretty good time 
in backing away from the thousand imminent dangers that 
beset him. 

Thomas Jefferson Tobias became greatly excited when he saw 
that Jacob Jonah was about to reach the darkness ot the woods, 
and thus escape. So he made a desperate effort to push on in 
the lead of the mob and slay our hero, and thus close and silence 
the lips of truth forever. He thrust his arm forward and fired 
at our hero, and immediately took shelter behind some of his 
friends. The charge from Tobias’s pistol passed over the head of 
our hero, giving him but a slight scalp wdund, and so slight that 
the wound had no stunning effect ; it caused the blood to flow 
very freely for a few minutes, and that was about all there was of 
it. Our hero, Jonah, in turn, fired off his firearm, and. turned 
his back on the mob, and fled swiftly away. Several shots were 
fired after him as he entered the dark forest, but he took 
cover among the big trees and sped away at the top of his speed 
till he was beyond immediate danger. 

There was a firearm in vogue among hunters at that day that 
was considered very true and deadly as a short range gun. It 
was a kind of biunderbuss about eighteen inches in the barrel 
with a wooden stock somewhat after the fashion of the horse pis- 
tols of that time. This short range blunderbuss was intended to 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZAfiRO. 165 

hit the mark without the gunner taking very particular aim. Jo- 
nah was armed with one of these blunderbusses and a hunting 
knife, as he had spent the most of his time since he had come 
into the Territory, in hunting on the outskirts of civilization for 
the wild animals that were so abundant in those times, and it was 
the usual style for hunters to carry their hunting accoutrements 
about their persons, for successful hunters were held in high, so- 
cial esteem in all genteel, first-class society. 

On this particular occasion, Jonah’s blunderbuss was charged 
with about twenty slugs in the rough that he had manufactured 
from a bar of lead with his hunting knife. When our hero, Jo- 
nah, fired at Thomas Jefferson Tobias, despite the raving mob 
that beset him, he was cool and had the forethought to avoid 
the shedding of blood, and when he pulled trigger he raised the 
muzzle of his blunderbuss high in the air and the slugs flew 
harmlessly through the heavens and hit no one. Yet Tobias 
afterwards went about through the settlements showing a hole in 
his hat and claiming that it was an evidence of his hair-breadth 
escape. 

When our hero, Jonah, ran away into the forest from the 
mob, he continued to travel till he was beyond danger for the 
night, then he laid himself down on a bed of fallen leaves of the 
forest and slept till after sunrise the following day. 


CHAPTER XXI. 

Exploits of Jacob Jonah on Land. 

H AVING left our hero, Jacob Jonah, sitting on his bed of 
forest leaves reflecting on his hair-breadth escape, and 
what should be his future course, I will go back and get some ac- 
count of what took place at the Thomas Jefferson Tobias mass 
meeting, and find out what became of faithful Elder Goodlove, 
and what was the action of the mob, and so forth. It is true 
that in going back from our hero, where I left him on his bed of 
forest leaves, that I am forestalling a little in matter and order of 
time. But I take it in that way that mjr story will be endowed 
with a more interesting and pleasing taste to narrate events in this 
place that in order of time would more properly come to notice 
further along. 

During the highest pitch of wrathful excitement when the cit- 
izens were trying and exerting every nerve to overwhelm our 
hero, Jacob Jonah, the guards that were watching over Elder 
Goodlove in a stable near by, left their post of duty for a few 
minutes to assist, or perhaps to witness the exciting and interest- 
ing battle between the mob and our hero, Jacob Jonah, as he was 
backing away toward the dark forest and from the light of the 
log-heap bonfires. 

The Elder was securely, as it was thought, fastened down with 
strong cords. But during the disturbance that Jonah caused, and \ 

166 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 167 

in the absence of the guards, he unloosed his fetters and made 
good his escape from the log stable. Upon the discovery that 
the Elder had made his escape, the wrath of the mob knew 
no bounds, as the many fiendish spirits that were at the mass 
meeting expected to take pleasure in hanging the Elder, and 
cared but little for the account of his guilt or innocence. So the 
guards that had left their posts of duty, were caught in the whirl- 
pool of violent rage, but managed to elude the mobocracy, and 
found security by hiding away in the dark, friendly woods near by. 

When the faithful Elder Goodlove made his escape, he 
hastened with incredible speed to the secret forest recluse of the 
good Parson Witherman, which was but ten miles away, and told 
the good Parson of the misfortunes that had befallen him at the 
corn-husking and quilting frolic and all about the burning of 
Major Washington Beaver’s barn. The faithful Elder Goodlove 
did not have to insist that both he and the good Parson would 
be forced to flee for their lives. For it it was plain enough and 
the good Parson could very well see that strong and convincing 
circumstances were against them both. So without any prelim- 
inary debate as to what should be done, or what should be their 
best course to escape from ^he hands of the mob that would en- 
deavor to hunt them down, the two friends determined to flee 
from the wrath of the excited citizens, by all of whom they were 
regarded as criminals of the very worst type. 

The two friends had no call to wait for the parting tears and 
sympathizing words of friends ; for friends they had none. “ The 
meetinghouse ghost,” and “ the haunted meetinghouse” had al- 
ready deprived them of their dearest social and religious friends, 
and the burning of Major Washington Beaver’s barn left them 
without a hope of returning truth and friendship. Thus knowing 
that they would be traced to their forest recluse by the sleuth 
hounds of human form the two friends visited their wives who 
had already been informed of the calamity that had befallen the 
corn -husking and quilting frolic, and had met at the cabin of the 
good Parson Witherman and found their husbands guilty of the 
burning of Major Washington Beaver’s barn, and had determined 


168 PATRICK O'MONIGHAN, OR 

to abandon their husbands. So when the two friends appeared 
at Witherman’s cabin they were met at the door by Witherman’s 
wife, who flared up and told him that she had been thinking all 
along that he and his church and 4 4 the meetinghouse ghost,” 
and his 44 haunted meetinghouse” would finally get him into 
trouble and bring disgrace on her and the children, and so leave 
them in disrepute all their living days. And that if he had only 
taken her wise and timely directions in regard to 4 4 the meeting- 
house ghost,” and his religious views in general, he would not 
at that time as a spectre haunted criminal be forced to run away 
from the Territory to avoid the avenging sword of justice. And 
she urged that it would be better for him in the long run to stay 
in the Territory and mount the scaffold and die dike a man. of 
some courage, and not go about hiding in caves and hollow logs 
where he would surely be found and hanged or shot down like 
some cowardly sheep thieving dog. And she said that he would 
be a nice man for her to live with after he had fallen so low that 
he would be no longer tolerated on earth, and had to hide away 
from Thomas Jefferson Tobias and all the law-abiding citizens, as 
she herself had no doubt on the charge of his guilt, and in her 
opinion the Elder had set the fire according to his directions as it 
was charged by Thomas Jefferson Tobias. 

The two friends, Witherman and Goodlove had already de- 
termined to leave the land of their troubles, and when they were 
upbraided with their crimes by their wives, they made haste to 
depart. For the good Parson Witherman could very well re- 
member that on more than one occasion he had denounced in the 
strongest of terms the corn-husking and quilting frolic, and had 
in his enthusiasm and warm ardor of faith prophesied that the big 
barn of Major Washington Beaver, together with Thomas Jefferson 
Tobias, would be destroyed by a divine agency, or that some one 
would be murdered at the frolic, or in short that something of a 
startling and serious nature would at all events transpire. Yet whilst 
the good Parson could but feel stronger in his faith as he saw 
how all had come to pass and how all had been fulfilled to the 
letter he plainly saw that the powers of darkness had defeated 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 169 

him and overshadowed all his good works, and he deeply regret- 
ted that he had sent the faithful Elder to the frolic where he 
was overcome with “ The Mississippi River Invigorator,’' and 
allowed such powerful circumstances to encompass him. All 
these thoughts, however, were but the common wailings of the 
unfortunate. Daylight was fast approaching in the east and delay 
was death at the hands of the mob. Witherman and Goodlove 
had but one horse apiece, and they could not take their horses 
and leave their families without their only means of going to 
mill with the family grists. So the two forlorn and ill-starred 
way-farers prepared to set out on foot, without regard to a fixed 
place of destination, to hunt for some far-away land where they 
would be strange, and where they could remain in a friendly 
obscurity till hallowed truth could have time to rise and make a 
plea in their behalf. And each, provided with his rifle and the 
ordinary hunting accoutrements, and his pocket Bible, disap- 
peared in the shadowy forest just after the gray dawn of day, on 
the moyning of the 29th of November, A. D., 1822. 

Did Witherman and Goodlove ever return, or what became 
of them, and how did they get along in their lonesome wander- 
ings through the swamps and forests and over the mountans that 
were filled with a thousand dangers to threaten and annoy 
them, and what was the consolation of their widowed wives? are 
some of the natural thoughts that will arise to the surface of the 
mind. Well, soon after Witherman and Goodlove disappeared 
their wives got divorced from the bonds of matrimony, as 
Thomas Jefferson Tobias had discovered still stronger proofs of 
their guilt, and it was no longer tolerable in that neighborhood 
to remain in the matrimonial state with such desperate charac- 
ters as Witherman and Goodlove, even had their wives desired 
so to remain. The divorced wives married again soon after 
and continued to live and move in the ordinary’ way of life. 

But I must here drop this part of my story and lose sight 
of Witherman and Goodlove where they disappeared in 
the Arkansas forest, till further along and in the proper 
place, I will give full account of their final triumph, where 


170 


PATRICK O'MONIGHAN, OR 


they triumphantly succeed in their missionary labors among 
the pagans and idolaters in the distant lands. And hav- 
ing made such observations as I think proper in this place in 
regard to Witherman and Goodlove, and having left our hero, 
Jacob Jonah sitting on his bed of forest leaves, I think it proper 
to make some note of what took place in the settlements after 
Witherman, Goodlove and Jonah had fled from the mob and 
were wandering exiles in the wilderness. And I think it will 
generally be admitted that public sentiment could not be given 
by a better means than that which the press would afford. So I 
will quote an editorial article entire. In a few days after the 
burning of Major Washington Beaver’s barn the following edi- 
torial appeared, and Jonah told me that it expressed public sen- 
timent in a very conservative mood when compared with the 
boiling state of public opinion that prevailed throughout the 
Territory among all the followers of Thomas Jefferson Tobias. 
The following is a true copy of the editorial that appeared in 
The Arkansas Gladiator: 

# 

“ It becomes our sad duty as editor of this journal to chron- 
icle one of the saddest calamities that could in the range of pos- 
sibility fall on any community. Hell will never, it does seem, 
close its gates on its very worst emissaries, but will continue to 
keep them in the missionary service here among us to tear down 
and destroy the best honest works of man. Nothing could be 
more fiendish and hell born than the malicious spirit that 
destroyed the big barn of Major Washington Beaver on the 
evening of the 27th of November, A. D., 1822. And had it 
not been discovered who the devils were that premeditatedly 
planned the dark, murderous plot, public conjecture would, be- 
yond all doubt have pointed its erring finger at some poor, 
harmless boy that had been disorderly at Parson Witherman’ s 
November meetings. But thank high heaven we here behold 
how beautifully injured justice will lay her holy hand on the 
shoulder of the evil-doer. After careful sifting we have arranged 
the following substantial facts : A quilting and husking frolic 
was in progress at the time that the fire broke out. The barn 


THE HIDDEti TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 


171 


was large and capacious, and Major Washington Beaver, being a 
whole-souled hospitable man, had consented to let the young folks 
of the neighboring settlements have his barn for their social 
gathering and dance. For such it was, as the bare name of 
husking and quilting frolic was given to the social gathering as 
a plausible guise, to gain popularity, for by shielding the frolic 
under the name of such honest industries as corn-husking and 
quilting, the sharper attacks of those preachers that adhere to a 
strictly Orthodox text would be parried off, as no reasonable 
man, whatever his faith might be, could attack such homely in- 
dustries as corn-husking and quilting. And to speak the truth, 
the facts are that most of the young ladies and young gentlemen 
that were in the barn at the time of the fire, have their own 
servants at home, and have never soiled their genteel hands with 
either corn husks or quilts. 

“It would also appear that Parson Witherman had been 
holding a protracted meeting in one of the adjoining neighbor- 
hoods and became greatly agitated about the corn-husking and 
quilting frolic, and said that the frolic was the get up of Thom- 
as Jefferson Tobias, who was constantly acting under the insti- 
gation of the devil, and that Tobias had long been the old 
devil’s handy man to pull down and trample under foot whatever of 
virtue was yet left in the Arkansas Territory. Witherman, it would 
seem, charged Tobias with a great deal of vulgarity, and with 
whatever would distract and turn public opinion against his 
sermons, and Witherman more than once denounced Tobias 
and his followers in very severe terms and prophesied that a de- 
stroying angel would come down from heaven and consume with 
fire the barn of Major Washington Beaver and all its occupants. 
So it appears from all that can be learned that this man Parson 
Witherman had always been regarded by the best people as a 
mere fanatic, and was as a general thing laughed at and scorned 
by all people of respectable pretentions. But it was never 
thought by those even that thought the least of him, that his 
fanaticism would culminate in so wicked a design as to burn up 
those that disputed his version of the Gospel, but the people 


172 


PA TRICK O'MONIGHAN, OR 


have learned a lesson from this venomous Parson Witherman 
that has overstepped all law, both of the Arkansas Territory, 
and of God ; so that they will know how to deal with the next 
fanatic, so as not to allow him to concoct and to bring to ma- 
turity his deep-dyed villany. Closely allied to this man Parson 
Witherman, was one Goodlove. Now it appears that this man 
Goodlove was supposed by all that ever knew, or noticed him, 
\ to be a harmless, good-natured man of but little worth, or force 
of character. But he was at the same time well known as a 
satellite of Parson Witherman. So Parson Witherman, as it 
appears in his wicked design picked on poor, ignorant, and in- 
strumental Goodlove, to carry out his wicked and hellish plot. 

“ The corner stone of this damnable plot was about one 
hundred and fifty bottles of 4 The Mississippi River Invigorator.’ 
The ‘ Invigorator ’ was clandestinely concealed in the basement 
and within the neighborhood of the barn and all about wherever 
it would come handy to the frolicers. And this 4 Invigorator ’ 
had been so poisoned with the proper drugs that it would bring 
on x very heavy stupor of the brain if but slightly imbibed, 
and if indulged in too freely it would produce instant death. 
So after nightfall the tool Goodlove, and as it is now quite well 
known and clear, one Jake Jonah, his confederate, carried this 
bottled death and hell into the basement of the barn, and 
placed it about among the stalls that Major Washington Beaver 
had used to stable his horses and cows. When the villainous 
Goodlove and Jake Jonah had set their hell trap, they went 
above and took a very forward part in the corn-husking and 
quilting frolic, and soon led the innocent frolicers to the death 
trap that was so well bated to catch them. The young frolicers, 
of course thought that they had made a fortunate discovery 
when they found the bottled death that had been prepared for 
them, and proceeded as young frolicers would do to indulge to 
excess, and many soon after drinking of the foul compound, fell 
over in an unconscious sleep. 

“ When all was in readiness for the work of death and de- 
struction as Elder Goodlove and his confederate, Jake Jonah, 


THE HIDDEN' TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 173 

supposed, Goodlove went below to fire the barn, and was dis- 
covered in the very commission of the deed by Thomas Jeffer- 
son Tobias— a young man whose brilliant parts have already at- 
tracted public attention — the perfidious Goodlove was seen to 
draw a flint and steel from his pocket and deliberately to strike 
fire. When Tobias discovered Goodlove in the act, he was 
concealed in one of the stalls inside of the basement, and was 
peeping through an aperture, and just when his eyes had satis- 
fied his senses as to the personal identity of the incendiary, he 
was forced to cough, or make some attractive noise whereby 
Goodlove discovered his hiding place. When Goodlove dis- 
covered Tobias secreted in a stall, he approached Tobias in the 
coolest possible manner, and looked in on Tobias in his hiding 
place and clapped his hands and expressed himself in a loud 
ha-ha, and told Tobias that he had suspected that some of the 
corn-huskers had indulged too freely in ‘ The Mississippi River 
Invigorator,’ and were turned topsy-turvey and in distress, and 
that he had taken it on himself as a Christian duty to come 
down below to befriend those that might need a soothing hand 
of sympathy. And the hypocritical Elder took on at a great 
rate, and said that although he laughed and tried to make sport 
with the corn-huskers, yet he was caused a great heaviness of 
heart when he saw such noble young men as Thomas Jefferson 
Tobias indulging in over draughts of the ‘ Invigorator.’ And 
so the perfidious Elder continued his moral speech till he had 
thrown a supernatural spell over Tobias as he sat in the stall. And 
when the perfidious Elder had Tobias spell-bound and complete- 
ly under the influence of his weird enchantment, he invited 
Tobias to come out of the stall to witness a very funny and in- 
teresting chemical apparatus that he had for starting fire, and 
Tobias followed along after the perfidious Elder as though he 
were bound hand and foot and led by a halter. When 1 obias 
had watched the wicked Elder in his strange performance for 
some time the blind dizziness and delirium with which he had 
been spell bound began to pass away and reason was about to 
triumph, for he was on the point of seizing the wicked Elder 


174 


PATRICK O' M ONI G HAN, OR 


and informing his intended victims of their danger by making 
an outcry. But it would seem that the wicked Elder divined 
his very thoughts, for as quick as a flash the wicked Elder whip- 
ped a bottle of drugged liquor out of his pocket and dashed 
the contents in the face of Tobias. And Tobias was at once 
rendered insensible and knew of no more that passed or what 
his pitiable condition was till he was hunted up by some of his 
young lady friends, and found lying in an insensible state behind 
a large stump, about fifty paces away from *the scene of the 
burnt barn. 

“When Tobias was found, he was yet in a very precarious 
condition, and talked distractedly to those around him, and in 
his insensible delirium would mention the name of the wicked 
Elder. And when Tobias was wholly recovered from the pois- 
oned and distracted condition of his brain, he unfolded the se- 
cret of the fire. All the next day succeeding the fire, public 
opinion was greatly agitated and the blood of many leading 
citizens was boiling hot when all was known about the dark plot 
to poison Tobias and make a holocaust of the frolicers. And a 
mass meeting was called for the evening, so that Tobias could 
give the public the full account of the wicked Elder’s proceed- 
ings. When the people were gathered in mass around the stand 
that was raised for oratorical purposes in the brilliant light that 
was shed by several log-heap bonfires, Tobias arose and in well 
appointed remarks told how the wicked Elder went about his 
devilment, and in short Tobias told what he saw and knew of 
the true state of facts. After Tobias had finished his remarks, 
loud calls were made for Hon. Marion Whitefield, the popular 
orator who has lately immigrated from North Carolina, where 
he has served in various councils of State, and no doubt the 
talents of Mr. Whitefield will soon find service in our own Ter- 
ritorial councils. Mr. Whitefield is a very sympathetic, mild- 
natured, and even tempered man, and supposed by most of his 
friends as too lenient and passive for the times, and indeed Mr.' 
Whitefield has been heard to remark that he had attended but 
three or four hangings and lynchings in his life-time. But Mr. 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. i 75 

Whitefield was roused to the very core on this occasion, and he 
openly declared for hanging the criminal Goodlove without 
calling to aid the tedious process of judge and jury. But mark 
you how shrewdly Tobias performed his part. Yet after all but 
half was known to the far-seeing Tobias ; for amid the ex- 
citing tragedy that was being performed, a new actor appeared 
to play a part in the last exciting scene. 

There came into these parts about one year or so ago a young 
invalid sailor whose name, so far as we know, is Jacob Jonah. 
Nothing is known about the antecedents of this wild Jake of the 
woods. He may have been branded by justice for his crimes a 
thousand times before he desecrated the soil of the Arkansas 
Territory, for aught we know. But there can be no doubt in 
the mind of a reasonable and thinking man in regard to his 
share of guilt in this particular crime. It is now remembered 
by many that this Jake Jonah went out of the barn before the 
fire. This circumstance of itself would almost warrant his guilt. 
But his conduct at the mass-meeting clearly brands him as an 
accomplice of the wicked Goodlove. When Mr. Whitefield 
had finished his remarks and the citizens were about to hang 
the wicked Rider Goodlove from an impending limb, this im . 
pudent young tar, Jake Jonah, had the effrontery to get up and 
commence in a half drunken, maudlin and indecent .style to 
harrangue the mass-meeting. But the impudent tar soon got 
down from the stand to defend himself from the fury of Thomas 
Jefferson Tobias and outraged justice. Tobias had gone back 
some distance from the speaker’s stand to rest his fatigued limbs. 
But when the contemptible tar, Jake Jonah, commenced to 
throw out his indecent insinuations Tobias got up and tried to 
approach the stand and either kill or capture the infamous 
scoundrel. But it is to be'regretted that the people could not 
keep cool and allow Tobias to take his course. For when the 
people saw the manoeuvers and threatening attitudes assumed by 
Tobias, their leader, they caught the notion of Tobias and 
moved on the miserable Jake Jonah all abreast and in much dis- 
order. This enabled Jonah to draw his firearm and to menace 


176 


PATRICK O'MONIGHAN, OR 


the crowd that was pursuing him till he backed into the forest 
close at hand and made good his escape. The excited people 
then made haste to the stable where the vile Goodlove was con- 
fined, but, to the great surprise of everybody, when the stable 
was reached the prisoner, Goodlove, was nowhere to be seen. 
The guards left their posts of duty for a few minutes to assist in 
capturing the accomplice, Jake Jonah, and when they returned 
to their posts their bird had flown and joined the other, wild 
Jake of-the woods, that had been his chief accomplice in crime. 
The gtiards that had thus so far neglected their trust as to 
allow the vile prisoner to escape, were forced to flee from the 
excited citizens and take shelter in the woods, for all the people 
present felt that justice had been greviously insulted in allowing 
the wicked Goodlove and his accomplice, Jake Jonah, to escape. 
And indeed it does seem to us that there \vas a screw loose some- 
where to let these evil-doers escape. 

“Upon inquiry the next morning it was found that the no- 
torious Parson Witherman, who is regarded as the principal in- 
cendiary, had also fled with his two accomplices, and it is the 
hearty wish of all that the infamous Witherman took “the meet- 
inghouse ghost” along in the company, so that his neighbors 
may have peace and hear no more of “the haunted meeting- 
house,” or “the meetinghouse ghost,” which have been the 
cause of so much alarm throughout the settlements. 

But whilst every one must admit that the Territory is well rid of 
this trio of desperadoes, yet we cannot afford, as law-abiding 
people, to let these human hyenas go at large and depredate on 
innocent communities that know not of them. So the gov- 
ernment must use every necessary endeavor and not get penu- 
rious about expenses till the desperate trio are found and sus- 
pended by their necks. 

“ In conclusion we will venture to express a hope that the 
people will acknowledge and honor the lofty and intrepid con- 
duct and prudence of Thomas Jefferson Tobias. Say we make 
him sheriff next fall.” 

The above editorial that was taken word for word, and letter 


\ 



THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 17 7 

for letter from The Arkansas Gladiator , will be a sufficient index 
to the published accounts of the burning of Major Washington 
Beaver’s barn, and will suffice to show that could Witherman, 
Goodlove and Jonah have been taken, they would surely have 
been suspended by their necks till dead, and the full measure of 
glory would have been bestowed on Thomas Jefferson Tobias. 


X 


CHAPTER XXII. 

Exploits of Jacob Jonah on Land. 

H AVING followed Witherman and Goodlove into exile, 
and. having given some preliminary account of what took 
place after the burning of Major Washington Beaver’s barn, it 
is proper to return to our hero, Jacob Jonah, that I left sitting 
. on his bed of forest leaves after he had run away from the mob. 
Sad, indeed, were the reflections of our hero, but being of a 
hopeful turn, he buoyed up his flagging energies with thoughts 
of happier days in some distant land that he knew not of, but 
that he might after all reach. 

And without other encouragment than that afforded by his 
own daring spirit, he commenced his dismal wanderings through 
the wilderness. His course was to the southwest. He con- 
tinued to wander on day after day without any remarkable 
event transpiring. He had fair luck and managed to supply 
himself with game without much trouble. 

After noon on the eleventh day that he had been in the 
wilderness, he saw a high mountain that towered up far above 
all its surroundings. His poor humiliated heart had grown sad 
and weary of the dismal scenes that the swamps and forests 
presented. And he thought how much it would relieve him if 
he could only climb up to the top of the mountain and see far 
away over the country. 


I7 8 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 179 

\ , 

He that has lived in the shadow of the dark, deep woods for 
a long time knows how natural it is to long for such a scene as 
can be witnessed from a mountain summit. So Jonah directed 
his steps toward the mountain, and it was late in the evening 
when he stood at the mountain’s base. He was already quite 
tired out, as he had walked all day long, hoping to reach some 
point of interest. But tired as he was, he thought he would be 
able to ascend some distance up the side of the mountain before 
he would make his bed for the night. 

He had climbed some two hundred feet up the side of the 
mountain, and had made fair speed by taking hold of the shrubs 
and pulling himself over the steep and rough acclivities. Al- 
ready he saw the world of swamps and forests far below him, 
and was about to put up for the night on a level and favored 
shelf that he had reached. He had pulled leaves and brambles 
from the surrounding bushes for his bed, and was about to sit 
down to rest and prepare his evening lunch, when he heard a 
noise above him on the mountain, and looking up he saw a 
young bear looking down at him from an overhanging declivity. 
His first thought was what a fine and delicious food the flesh of 
the young bear would make to sustain him on his way. So he 
aimed his blunderbuss and fired, but to his utter disgust the 
slugs went wild, and but one or two took effect on the young 
bear, and just so as to make the young brute raise a most dis- 
tressing howl. Jonah was not long in realizing that he had sud- 
denly precipitated war and misfortune upon himself, from a 
source too, that no quarter could be expected. 

When Jonah fired his blunderbuss, the young bear set up a 
piteous lament, and he could instantly hear a powerful rumbling 
above, for it would appear that a cave entered the mountain 
jtist where the young bear appeared, and above the spot where 
Jonah had made down his bed, and the cave was well stocked 
with full-grown bears, and, being attacked in their own lairs, 
they turned out in full force to drive the assailant away. Our 
hero had no time to stand and parley, and weigh matters with 
his enemies. What he had to do was instinctively developed, and 


i8o 


PATRICK O'MONIGHAN , OR 


he was soon fairly flying down the steep mountain side. As he 
glanced back to see the force and strength of his enemies, he 
saw the whole slope covered with the pursuing assailants rushing 
down in pursuit of him. Our hero exerted his skill and activity 
and was within one hundred feet of the base, when in stepping 
on a stone it broke away from its fastenings and precipitated 
him down the steep declivities, and the swiftness of his retreat, 
together with the force that his body gained from the treacher- 
ous rock, gave him such momentum that he went on whirling 
heels over head, gaining force as he neared the center of gravity, 
which point was reached when he struck the valley below. 

When our hero recovered from the stunning effects of his 
fall, he found that both his ankles were entirely disabled and 
wholly unfit for service. A man could not well get into a more 
hopeless condition. The only relieving part about his deplora- 
ble luck was that the army of assailants never appeared at the 
base of the mountain. Perhaps when he fell down the steep de- 
clivity, his enemies were astonished and alarmed at what they 
saw in his wonderful movements as he went tumbling down, and 
gave up the chase. So our hero may have saved his life by his 
unfortunate stumbling. But his condition could not very well 
be more hopeless and distressing than it was. For there he was 
in so hopeless a condition as not to be able to put a foot under 
himself. 

After dark our hero heard the baying of a hound far away to the 
south, and thinking that some human being might be within the 
range of the report of his blunderbuss he began to fire, and as 
the night was calm and tranquil, the sound could be heard for 
miles away. He continued to fire at intervals all night, and 
near daylight he was cheered by the report of a gun. He con- 
tinued to fire his blunderbuss, and was at last made as happy as 
one could be in his condition. For early next morning he saw 
a man approaching. The man was riding on the back of a mule. 
The man had heard the report of the blunderbuss, and had come 
to see if there were any one in distress. The man that came to 
our hero’s assistance proved to be Prince Martino, a hermit ; a 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 181 

ft 

man, too, of remarkable parts. He had become embittered 
with the trifling associations of the world, and had sought out a 
deep and lonely glen in the mountains about ten miles distant 
from the Arkansas River. And there in this solitary hermitage, 
he lived far away from the troubles of civilization, and with 
no human companion except his old negro servant, Tom. 

When Prince Martino had made all proper and usual inquir- 
ies about the cause of the disaster, he placed our hero behind 
him on the mule he rode, and turned and started in the direc- 
tion of his hermitage. On the road to the hermitage our hero 
put his wits to work to make a good first impression on his ben- 
efactor. Jonah told the hospitable Prince that he was in part of 
Spanish extraction, and had been bred a sailor and spent his en- 
tire youth on sea, and where he would have ever remained had 
it not been that his father lost his life when on a whaling expe- 

• 

dition in northern waters, and that it was that sad bereavement 
that caused him to quit the treacherous sea and to seek his for- 
tune in Mexico. So he had set out to join a colony in the Mex- 
ican province of Texas. And he had thought that it would ap- 
pear extremely romantic and fascinating to hunt his own paths 
across the wild woods of the Arkansas Territory, and thus gain 
some notoriety as an explorer as well as a name for daring and 
courage before joining the colony. Whilst at the same time the 
experience would be necessary education for one about to make 
his horhe on the wild frontier of Mexico, among the wild, red 
nomads. Jonah remarked that as he was of Spanish extraction 
in part, he ought to gain favor on account of his ancestral race. 

When Prince Martino heard that his crippled guest was of 
Spanish blood, he made no concealment of his pleasure. Any- 
thing that reflected favor on the land of adventurers was highly 
pleasing to the Prince. Jonah soon saw that he had succeeded 
in making favor for himself. 

The Prince, on reaching his hermitage in the glen, made a 
bed of soft furs and robes that had been skillfully dressed, and 
placing his crippled guest on this pleasant bed, told him to take 
as much pleasure as he possibly could in his sore and disabled 


182 


PA TRICK O' MON/GHAN, OR 


condition, and that the faithful old negro servant Tom would 
minister to all his wants. The Prince, as a last consoling remark 
told his crippled guest that as soon as his wounds would permit, 
they would take a trip for their health to the Fountain of Im- 
mortal Youth, which was beyond the Arkansas River, and dis- 
tant over the mountains about three days’ ride on horseback, or 
muleback rather, for the Prince had no domestic stock of ani- 
mals but two faithful, and sure-footed mules, and eight or ten 
bidable, well trained hounds. 

As Jonah had made some ado about his stock of Spanish lore, 
he discreetly concealed his ignorance when Prince Martino 
spoke of the Fountain of Immortal Youth, and gave the Prince 
to understand that all his favors and proposals were thankfully 
received and heartily appreciated. But the Fountain of Immor- 
tal Youth caused Jonah much thought. In fact, it wore on his 
mind till he found relief in the many stories that the Prince 
afterwards told him about the great men that Spain had pro- 
duced. The Prince compared Columbus and John Ponce de 
Leon, and said that in the opinion of the masses, Columbus 
possessed great genius as a sailor, but that the idolized Colum- 
bus was surpassed, in his opinion, by John Ponce de Leon, and 
that Columbus had made his great discoveries under the guidance 
and influence of Ponce, and that Ponce sought the influence of 
Columbus to obtain the necessary ships ; while Ponce himself 
furnished the necessary brains to direct all the successful expe- 
ditions to the new lands that were discovered. The Prince 
thought that Ponce was a very kind and practical man, and 
sought to discover whatever was beautiful and pleasing in nature. 
The Prince thought that Ponce could not find it in his warm, 
spiritual heart to lure King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella with 
the promise of rich discoveries of gold and diamonds. So he 
used Columbus as a go-between to make such sordid promises 
of reward as would gratify their avaricious hopes. Prince 
Martino thought that after the first discoveries of land had been 
made through the well designed plans of Ponce, that many ad- 
venturers sought to curry favor with the kings of the old world 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 


183 


by promising to carry home from the new heathen world ships 
laden with golden spoils, taken from the Indian Pagans. The 
Prince thought that the ruling passion was to rob the heathen 
world of whatever valuables were appreciated by the civilized 
kings at home in the old world. As references, the Prince re- 
called the avaricious hopes' of many adventurers, and especial- 
ly of Ferdinand De Soto, who, with six hundred brave com- 
panion soldiers, made so futile an attempt to discover the rich 
gold mines that were hid away in the mountains of America. 

The Prince thought that the expedition of De Soto was not 
so fairy and ludicrious as was generally supposed. And that he 
had no ddubt that the rich gold mines that were hid away in the 
mountains, some of which had been already discovered, were the 
secret cause of De Soto’s useless chase, and that upon the 
discoveries of the new lands, or as s6on as the civilized whites 
and the heathen Indians could come to a partial understanding 
of each other, the heathen Indians began to instruct their civil- 
ized visitors in the legendary history of their country ; and as 
the Indians had no immense libraries of books, like their white 
visitors had, they could give but the unadulterated legendary 
history of their- country that had kept pure through the true, 
faithful and unbiased traditions of an honest, primitive race. The 
Prince thought that all the traditions of the Indians were true to 
a word when the whites first visited this country. And that the 
white men transformed the simple story of nature’s children, 
and exagerated everything that passed through their lips. Con- 
sequently the futile attempts of De Soto to find mountains and 
cities of pure gold. The Indians, Prince Martino thought, had 
told the avaricious whites that mountains far in the interior con- 
tained gold and ornamental stones. But when the bombastic 
whites got hold of this torn leaf of Indian history, they 
made a genuine white man’s amendment and contorted the 
simple Indian story of truth, so as to make it appear that moun- 
tains and cities of pure gold could be found far in the interior of 
the country, awaiting to be appropriated by the Christian kings. 
Of course such high sounding talk would please the kings and 


1 8 4 


PATRICK O' MO NIG HAN, OR 


people in general back at home, who were every day expecting 
to see their ships return laden with the precious metals. The 
Prince thought that the story of the gold that the Indians knew 
of far back in the interior reached De Soto after it had received 
a genuine amendment at. the hands of his own countrymen. 

And it was thus that De Soto was set off in the forest to look 
for cities and mountains of gold, when if De Soto had followed 
the true directions of the Indians, he would have gone to the 
mountains and engaged in proper mining operations, and by so 
doing he would have found the rich prizes that the Indians told 
of. The Prince thought that the false manuscripts and books of 
the whites were full of falsehood invented to conceal the truth, 
and thought that it was the nature of the white man to write out 
something that no one could understand, and then cheekily call 
it argument or history. 

Jonah often afterwards told me that there was something in 
these notions and opinions of Prince Martino that ever after- 
wards clung to him as truth. Many times did Prince Martino 
give Jonah the true version of Indian story and fable as he un- 
derstood it, and as Spanish adventurers misunderstood it. But 
I have not mentioned the famous ancestor of the Prince in the 
light of blood relationship. It so happened that Prince Martino, 
the hermit and benefactor of Jacob Jonah, was a lineal descend- 
ant of John Ponce de Leon, the great Spanish adventurer. 
The Prince traced back his line very accurately in this way. 
After Ponce came over to America to search for the Fountain of 
Immortal Youth and find out more about the New World, he 
was clandestinely married to an Indian maiden of the name of 
Agloo, and the issue of the clandestine marriage and union was 
a female off-spring of the name of Aglee, and back to Aglee 
Prince Martino, the hermit, traced his descent with very minute 
accuracy. The Prince would become quite unhinged and taken 
down with emotion when he would think of the slighted, disre- 
spectful way in which the world treated the memory of his old 
ancestor, John Ponce de Leon. 

Jonah told me that the Prince would become wild and frant- 


THE HIDDEN TEE AS DEE OF OLD UZAEEO. 185 

ic when he would come to think how the world laughed at his 
respected ancestor, Ponce, for what everbody considered old 
Ponce’s foolish and childish illusion in hunting for the Fountain 
of Immortal Youth. The Prince would assert that his old an- 
cestor, Ponce, got a little off the proper way^ that was all, just in 
the same way that Ferdinand De Soto got off the true way in 
his attempt to find the gold mines that the Indians had so truth- 
fully told of. 

The Prince thought that his old ancestor, Ponce, showed the 
great beauties of his mind in his ordinary pursuits. When he 
discovered a land that had beautiful green forest trees and 
flowers of bright sparkling hues, he called the land Florida. It 
was such beautiful and pure thoughts that lead him to search for 
the Fountain of Immortal Youth. The Fountain of Immortal 
Youth was also found in pure Indian story, and was true enough. 
But the Indians that knew of the Fountain had in all probabil- 
ity never seen it themselves. 

The Indian informers that told the story of the Fountain to 
Ponce were probably wandering nomads that had never seen the 
Fountain, and had received the story from some of the wild 
nomads that lived far back in the interior. And it was thus 
that Ponce received the story in a broken and disturbed condi- 
tion. But the story that the Prince told of the Fountain, and 
that he declared as the true one, was of deep interest to Jonah 
and set his troubled thoughts at rest, for his mind had been sore- 
ly perplexed. The Prince assured Jonah that the Fountain of 
Immortal Youth was none other than the boiling or Hot Springs 
that were within the Arkansas Territory, and not more than 
three days’ ride on muleback from his hermitage. 

The Prince thought that it was the vulgar and ignorant that 
first gave the Fountain the name of Hot Springs. The Prince 
thought that in the name there was nothing that could be criti- 
cised. The Indians did not attribute to the boiling waters prop- 
erties that would annihiliate old age. and restore all that there 
was in physical youth again. But the Indians did consider that 
the Fountain of Immortal Youth possessed powerful medicinal 


i86 


PATRICK O’MONJGHAN, OR 


properties for all such as were afflicted with old rheumatic pains 
or leperous sores. And so it was that the wild Indian nomads 
did consider the Fountain as their best life-preserver, and thought 
indeed, as well they might, that the Fountain would cure most 
of their ills and afflictions. And when the aged were not too de- 
crepit and wasted away, it was thonght that the Fountain would 
rejuvenate and give warm blood again. The Prince thought 
that there was no more claimed for the Fountain of Immortal 
Youth than some of the doctors claimed for their salves and 
medicines. 

When Jonah was about well of his sprains, the Prince pro- 
posed a trip to the Fountain, but Jonah, who was afraid of the 
.spies of Thomas Jefferson Tobias, made some excuse that put 
off the trip for the time, and for that matter, forever, for Jonah 
and the Prince never visited the Fountain of Immortal Youth, 
vulgarly known as the Hot Springs. 

When Jonah was entirely well and talked of going on to 
Mexico, the Prince told him that the Province of Texas in 
Mexico offered no broader nor better fields for adventure than 
the Arkansas Territory, and the Indian country on the west. 
And as Jonah was a young man that was given to ambitious 
hopes in case he should find the Arkansas Territory too limited 
for his operations, the Prince offered as an inducement to get 
Jonah to remain with him in the Territory, a half-interest in 
some gold and silver mines that he had in the Mexican country 
down below Santa Fe, somewhere on the Rio Grande River. 
Jonah saw at once that the Prince had made him a very liberal 
offer, and as he had never had any more intention of going to 
Mexico than he had had of going anywhere else, he accepted the 
offer of the Prince. For it was clear enough that in case he 
should find life in the Territory too monotonous or too much 
wanting in thrilling adventure, there was Mexico still to fall back 
on, and a half interest in Prince Martino’s gold mines. 

These mining interests that the Prince owned in Mexico, 
were property that one of Prince Martino’s ancestors acquired 
about A. D.,1600. These mines were considered rich in gold and 


( 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 187 

silver, and had been handed down as a legacy to the younger 
generations by several of Prince Martino’s ancestors when about 
to depart this life. The ancestors of Prince Martino had failed 
to derive any profits from the mines on account of various 
troubles and mishaps. Sometimes the wild nomadic tribes made 
it too dangerous to run the mines with safety ; sometimes the 
Spanish authorities would not let the mines be worked unless the 
half of the profits would be turned over to the king as his share ; 
sometimes the ancestors of the Prince were too rich to bother 
about the mines, and sometimes the mines could not be found, 
and so on; and so it was and had happened that from the various 
causes of a preventing Providence, the mines had not been 
operated for upwards of one hundred and fifty years. 

Jonah proposed that a depot of supplies should be established 
for the Indians at the mines, and when the wild nomads caused 
any uneasiness among the miners, they should be at once sup- 
plied with clothing, and guns, and blankets, and such other 
useful and civilizing means as would pacify their wild conduct. 
The Prince thought all the plans of Jonah quite practicable, and 
of the proper nature to soothe the savage breast. 

I will hereafter say more about the mining operations of Jo- 
nah and the Prince. The part that Prince Martino, the hermit, 
takes in my story must be briefly told. In brief, Prince Marti- 
no, the hermit, and Jacob Jonah, our hero, spent four years in 
hunting with the wild nomads of the woods. - Prince Martino 
was on amicable terms with many of the wild red nomads, for 
he had lived for upwards of twenty years at his hermitage in the 
glen. The Prince and Jonah made many extensive expeditions 
far out in the wild west among the wild red nomads. 

They fought many battles with the unfriendly nations of the 
wild nomads, of which I have not the particulars, and even if I 
had, I could not afford space in my story for all such matters. 
Jonah was uneasy lest he should be found out by Thomas Jeffer- 
son Tobias, and for that reason he was always on the alert for 
the trouble that he had left behind him, and not more than one 
hundred and fifty miles awav. But he had little cause to fear as 


188 . PATRICK O' MONIGHAN, OR 

long as he kept hid away in the hermitage in the glen, when he 
was not occupied in the chase. So, whenever Prince Martino 
proposed a trip for health or pleasure to the Fountain of Immor- 
tal Youth, or to any place of a public nature, Jonah would make 
some excuse that would satisfy the Prince. No, he would never 
go abroad for the good, substantial reason that he was afraid of 
Thomas Jefferson Tobias. 

However, when Jonah had been with the Prince four years, 
the Prince in the fall of A. D., 1826, proposed that Jonah and 
himself would make a trip down to a trading post that was situ- 
ated down below on the Arkansas >River. The trading post 
was distant about one hundred miles. Jonah thought of course 
that he had outgrown the features that he wore at the time of 
the burning of Major Washington Beaver’s barn. So he cheer- 
fully accepted the proposal of the Prince, and the two compan- 
ions set out on the two faithful mules of Prince Martino, Reav- 
ing the hermitage in charge of the good and obedient old 
negro servant, Tom. 

When Jonah and the Prince were within five and twenty 
miles of their destination, and on the evening of the second 
day that they had been on the road, they came to quite a large 
company of travelers that had gone into camp. The Prince and 
Jonah thought that it would be the best thing that they could do 
to go into camp where they could pass the evening in company 
with the strangers and thus relieve their fatigue in social chat ; 
so the Prince and Jonah went by the camp of the 'strangers, and 
at the distance of about fifty yards, alighted from their mules 
and unpacked, and built their camp fire, and sat down in the 
light of their camp fire to eat and enjoy their suppers, as hungry 
way-farers only could. 


CHAPTER XXIII. 


Exploits of Jacob Jonah on Land. 

T HE strangers that were encamped but a short distance 
away, being early in camp, came over to the camp fire of 
Prince Martino and Jonah, when they had finished their suppers 
and camp chores. Jonah was sitting in the bright light of the 
camp fire, and could not see the faces of the strangers as they 
came up, whilst the strangers could look Jonah full in the face 
as he sat in the light of the bright camp fire, eating his supper. 

When the strangers came up, they exchanged the usual 
formal addresses with the Prince and Jonah, and made 
some inquiry as to what part of the Territory the Prince and 
Jonah were from, and if they were looking up a location, and so 
on in that way began a loose rambling talk about things of little 
or no account. 

When Jonah had finished his supper, he got up and renewed 
the camp fire by throwing on some dry, seasoned wood, and 
then stood around in the bright light and tried to make himself 
agreeable and hospitable to the strangers, and in that way all the 
strangers got a scrutinizing look at his countenance. 

Suddenly one of the strangers sprang forward and stared 
Jonah full in the face, and put his hand over his eyes to shade 
off the glaring light, and in the wildest and most excited man- 
ner clapped his hand on Jonah’s shoulder and exclaimed : “ Why 

189 


190 


PATRICK O'MOAJGHAN, OR 


\ 

halloo ! Jake Jonah — Is that you ? — Well I declare — Is it my eyes 
that deceive me ? — Yes it is Jake — It is you sure enough. There 
is the same old scar on your nose. Why Jake Jonah don’t you 
know me ? Don’t you know who 1 am ? I’m Bob Day. I was 
at the corn-husking and quilting frolic in Major Washington 
Beaver’s barn ; are Witherman and Goodlove with you ? ” 
And thus Bob Day continued on in an excited manner to call 
up old reminders that would be most likely to make Jonah re- 
member him and identify him. During this excited scene at 
the camp fire, those that had come over from the other camp 
with Bob Day rushed up close to Jonah and stared him in the 
face when they heard Bob Day call his name. They all had 
heard of Jake Jonah. Some of them had never seen him. They 
knew him from hearsay only in connection with Thomas Jeffer- 
son Tobias and the burning of Major Washington Beaver’s barn. 
And all seemed glad to see him. And all asked a great many 
questions all at once, for all seemed very anxious to hear from 
Witherman and Goodlove. 

Jonah, you may very well know, was almost paralyzed with 
embarrassment. Bob Day called up and continued to call up 
these old matters that had been the very nightmare of Jonah’s 
soul. Oh, the thoughts of the corn-busking and quilting frolic 
in Major Washington Beaver’s barn, and Thomas Jefferson To- 
bias, and Witherman, and Goodlove, and “ the meetinghouse 
ghost,” and “ the haunted meetinghouse.” All these and many 
more harrowing thoughts rushed like hideous realities through 
Jonah’s brain. Yet as the sweat ran \n streams down his 
face Bob Day continued to call up one sad reminder after 
another, and Jonah struggled to gain his power of utterance so 
he could speak, but his power of speech had fled and there he 
stood, his tongue stiff in his mouth, as Bob Day clapped him on 
the shoulder and reminded him of past events. 

At last Bob Day exclaimed, “ Jake, you needn’t be afraid of 
Thomas Jefferson Tobias any longer, he is dead.” This last 
cheerful remark struck Jonah with such pleasing effect that it 
broke the spell that entranced him, and he so far recovered him- 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 


191 


self as to be able to articulate, “ Is that so? ” Then Jonah and 
Bob Day went out from the camp fire and sat down, and leaned 
up against a tree and talked over old matters in a confidential 
way. Bob said that the men that he had encamped 
with were from the neighborhood of “the haunted meeting- 
house,” and where Thomas Jefferson Tobias had lorded it over 
all, and that they had come down to that part of the Territory 
to look up locations with an eye to agricultural pursuits. 

Bob Day, you may very well know, was possessed of a story 
that above all else Jonah was anxious to hear. Bob had quieted 
Jonah’s fears in the beginning by assuring him that Tobias was 
dead, and that the whole truth of the burning of Major Wash- 
ington Beaver’s barn had come to light, and that Witherman, 
Goodlove and Jonah had been found innocent of all complicity 
in the burning of the barn. For before Tobias had breathed 
his last, he had told all about it, and with a repentant heart had 
confessed his many crimes. So after Bob Day and Jonah had 
passed a few preliminary remarks as to what became of Wither- 
man and Goodlove, Bob told his story, and Jonah listened with 
deep interest. 

The story was that Tobias had served with great distinction 
as sheriff of his county for two years, and was steadily gaining 
in public favor up to the time of his death. But misfortune and 
dishonor overtook him when he was on the high road to fame 
and prosperity, and when his name was spoken in praise only by 
all. And after the burning of Major Washington Beaver’s barn, 
the mothers for miles around had named their male offspring 
in honor of Thomas Jefferson Tobias, and that in every well to- 
do fashionable polite family, there was a youth bearing the once 
proud and honorable name of Tobias. And that the downfall 
of Tobias came around in this ludicrous, dishonorable way. 
For a year or more before Tobias fell, bold and daring robberies 
were repeatedly committed in all parts of the country over 
which Tobias reigned. No clue could ever be obtained as to 
who the robbers were. Whenever one of these outrages was 
committed, the people would gather round their leader, Tobias, 


1 


192 


PATRICK O' MO NIG HAN, OR 


and ask for consolation. And Tobias would in his energetic 
and bombastic way dash about over the country and scour every 
dark and lonesome wilderness and threaten innocent men with 
prosecution, and thus he would carry on in his feigned eager- 
ness and make out that he was very daring and brave in his at- 
tempts to ferret out and arrest the evil doers. On some occa- 
sions, and quite often too, he would have innocent men arrested 
and thrown into prison. Whomsoever, in fact, Tobias did not 
like he considered suspicious: And it was noticed after he 
was dead, that all the men whom he considered suspicious, were 
his enemies in some personal or political matter, and had in 
some way or other refused to do his bidding. But at last Tobias 
fell, and light and truth appeared. 

A rich country merchant of the name of Harry Crow dis- 
covered that he was constantly losing articles of value from his 
store. And after a careful examination of his premises, he found 
that a thief had been entering through a rear window. Harry 
Crow kept his discovery a secret. For some reason he told no 
one of his loss or what he was going to do. Harry Crow was 
naturally cunning, and he proceeded to prepare a trap for the 
thief. He had a trap door made in tne floor immediately inside 
of the window through which the thief was carrying away his 
goods. The trap door he carefully concealed from the public 
by covering it with his wares that he had in store. And he had 
it so made and fastened below with thumb-screws that by a 
simple twist of the wrist the trap door would be left standing on 
hair triggers that would give way whenever any weight came on 
the trap door above, and thus allow the object that compressed 
the door above to drop through into a very deep cellar bolow. 
But Harry Crow did not stop here. If he had Tobias would 
not have been cut off so soon in his wicked career. 

But to mend matters, Harry Crow had prepared a dead -fall 
that was also supported on hair-triggers. The dead-fall trap 
was a large flat rock of about five hundred pounds weight. This 
dead-fall which was immediately below the trap door, would in- 
stantly nab whatever came tumbling down from the upper story. 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO . 


193 


When Harry Crow had everything arranged to his taste, he 
* prepared his bed in the cellar below his store, and there he slept 
night after night awaiting the return of the thief. So one dark 
and stormy night when thunder, wind and rain held 
full sway, and when any ordinary noise mingled with 
the turbulent elements without and passed off unheard, 
Harry Crow, who was awake listening to the wild and roaring 
thunder, thought he heard some object fall on the floor above 
him, and he immediately proceeded to his trap door and turned 
his thumb screws, so as, in case there should be a thief in the 
store, he would be nabbed as he attempted to pass out with his 
pelf. So after Harry had turned the thumb screws and exam- 
ined the hair triggers of his dead-fall, he went back to his bed. 

Harry was composed in his bed and about to give way to un- 
conscious sleep, when all of a sudden the trap door fell with a 
terrible crash, and the dead-fall closed down on its victim with 
a dull thud. When the dead-fall fell, Harry heard the excla- 
mation, “ O ! mercy ! ” and then Harry knew that the dead- 
fall had the thief safe in its clutches. Harry rushed out of the 
cellar and hastened off to his nearest neighbors and had them 
hurry to his assistance. 

When his neighbors arrived, they and Harry stood outside 
and could hear the entrapped thief raving and struggling and 
talking to himself, and threatening Harry Crow with death. 
For Harry and his neighbors could hear the writhing thief say 
to himself, “ Well, Harry Crow, I would be willing to die if I 
could get just one shot at you.” 

When Harry Crow and his neighbors heard this timely warn- 
ing, you may be sure they stood off well on their guard, for they 
knew that the entrapped thief was armed. Had not they been 
so warned, they would no doubt have rushed all at once down 
on the thief, and some of them would have been shot. And as 
it was and as cautiously as Harry and his neighbors tackled their 
victim, Harry made a hair-breadth escape. 

When Harry and his neighbors had stood off some distance 

from the store and talked over the situation, Harry proceeded 

13 


194 


PATRICK O'MONIGHAN , OR 


to the back door and thought to engage the thief in conver- 
sation. Harry and his neighbors thought they could cool the 
rage of the thief by offering him their sympathy. So Harry 
peered through the darkness over toward his man-trap in the 
floor and inquired, “ Say, stranger, are you much hurt ?” Then 
Harry listened awhile, and getting no answer, he again inquired, 
“ Is that stone very impressive?” That was Harry’s dead-fall 
— the stone. 

Not getting any answer to his second inquiry, Harry again 
inquired, “I say — Will I go for the doctor?” “ I’ll doctor 
you,” cried out the thief in the dead-fall, and blazed away with 
a horse-pistol. The ball from the thief’s horse-pistol cut away 
Harry’s shirt collar and seared his neck, and Harry dropped 
down dazed and senseless, and his neighbors ran up and gathered 
him by the legs and dragged him beyond danger. 

When Harry recovered his mind and found that his wound 
would not prove mortal he was fearfully enraged when he had come 
to consider how the thief answered his sympathetic inquiries. And 
he wanted to burn his store down, and thus torture the thief to 
death. But fortunately wiser counsel prevailed. One of Har- 
ry’s neighbors proposed that hot water should be thrown down 
on the thief, and when that proposition was considered by Harry 
and his neighbors, all were agreed that hot water would be the 
best means to employ in the siege and to bring the thief to 
honorable terms of surrender. So hot water was prepared and 
one of Harry’s neighbors went within reach of the man-trap, and 
dashed the boiling hot water down on the thief. The thief 
yelled and raved, but Harry’s neighbors stood firm, and threatened 
the thief with a repetition of the hot water. And the thief seeing 
that his case was hopeless relented, and began to parley with Har- 
ry’s neighbors, and when he found that nothing would satisfy 
them but an unconditional surrender, he said, “I give up,” and 
threw both his horse pistols up through the open man-trap above 
him. Harry’s neighbors having thus secured the thief’s arms, 
had everything their own way, and proceeded with matters to 
suit themselves. They procured a lantern and went down to 


t 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO . 195 

see who was in Harry’s dead-fall. They stood off a respectable dis- 
tance and opened the door of their tin lantern and let the light 
reflect on the dead-fall. And there, under the dead-fail, lay the 
thief writhing in his agony, for the big stone dead-fall was lying 
across his legs and belly, and his breathing was heavy and 
difficult. 

Harry’s neighbors seeing that all danger was over, wr Iked up 
and looked him fairly in the face. One look was sufficient, 
however, for Harry’s neighbors dropped their lantern and looked 
at each other in amazement. For lo, the victim of Harry Crow’s 
dead-fall was none other than Thomas Jefferson Tobias. And 
there lay his pelf all scattered about. Harry’s neighbors hur- 
ried up to Harry and told him who his victim was, and all hands 
proceeded to the cellar and raised the heavy stone off the vic- 
tim’s body. Then one of Harry’s neighbors ran for the doctor. 
The doctor came and examined Tobias’ wounds, and immediate- 
ly told him to give in his account and settle up his worldly mat- 
ters. Tobias said that he would confess to Harry Crow and 
none other. So all hands went out of the cellar and left Harry 
Crow and Tobias alone. And Tobias told his last story, and it 
was a long one I assure you ; and told of many a dark and 
damnable deed that Tobias himself committed. Included in 
his tale of horrors were the damnable wrongs that he had done 
Witherman, Goodlove and Jonah. For in this regard he con- 
fessed in each particular that he had in his drunken revel fired 
Major Washington Beaver’s barn, and that he or one of his 
friends took a piece of clay from a chink in the wall and threw 
it at Parson Witherman, and that afterwards one of his friends 
made “ the meetinghouse ghost ” story out of the wicked act. 
These crimes Tobias said were committed in order to run Par- 
son Witherman out of the country, as the Parspn was injuring 
his, Tobias, political prospects. Harry Crow sat down by To- 
bias’ side as he unfolded his wicked secret story. Harry Crow, 
seeing that Tobias was growing weak and about to depart, was 
desirous to get in a matter that had relation to himself personal- 
ly. So he inquired, “ Was it you that stole my gray mare ?” 


/ 


196 


PA TRICK O' MONIGHAN, OR 


Tobias turned his face on Harry, and with a beseeching look 
whispered “Yes,” with his last breath, and he was dead. 

So there Jonah and Bob Day sat leaning up against a tree as 
Bob told Jonah of the most remarkable happenings. He said 
that “ the haunted meetinghouse ” was set on fire and burned 
down soon after Witherman ran away, and that great tall weeds 
stood in its stead. 

But I cannot afford space to note all the important matters 
that Bob Day told Jonah. But Bob did convince Jonah 
that it would be to his interest to visit the old sorrowful 
scenes of disaster. So after Jonah had made some inquiries 
about some particular young ladies who had made a deep and 
lasting impression on his once loving susceptible heart, he told 
Bob that if it were in his power to get off from the Prince 
Martino, he would accompany him, Bob, to his home, and show 
the people that he was the identical Jake Jonah that they had 
tried to hang four years before. So in the morning Jonah told 
old romantic Prince Martino his very remarkable story of the 
burning of Major Washington Beaver’s barn. 

The Prince was very much surprised the evening before to 
see Jonah make up such warm friendships around the camp fire. 
But he could have no bad suspicions about Jonah’s antecedents, 
as he saw that Jonah’s old friends that greeted him so heartily 
were all plain, open and frank yeomen of the Territory to whom 
nothing could be attributed but honesty and innocence. 

When the Prince had heard Jonah through with his story, he 
said, “ Yes go home with Bob Day. I will go on to the post 
and do our errand, and then return to my hermitage in the glen. 
You go home with Bob Day and be received by the settlers, and 
when you have a fill of your visit, return to me in the glen,” so 
with the happiest heart that beat in his breast for many a day, 
Jonah went home with Bob Day. When he arrived at Bob’s 
home, it was soon known abroad, and the people flocked to see 
him from every quarter. Many came to see him that had settled 
in the Territory since he had fled, and knew him not personally, 
but they knew his story and that was enough to make Jo- 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO . 197 

nah attractive to them. Jonah was the hero of the day, and he 
was accorded a grand reception party at the largest meeting- 
house in the country, and there, at the reception party, Jonah 
made the identical speech that he would have made four years 
before at the Thomas Jefferson Tobias mass-meeting, had he not 
been mobbed and driven off by Tobias and his crowd. Jonah 
told in plain impressive words how he had smelt the smoke as it 
came up from the basement of the burning barn, and how he 
had gone down in the basement, and had found Tobias in an un- 
conscious drunken state with a bottle of “The Mississippi 
River Invigorator ” lying by his side, and how Tobias had 
kicked over the candlestick in his drunken delirium, and there- 
by set the barn on fire, and how he had dragged Tobias out of 
the fire and smoke, else Tobias would have burned to death. 

When Jonah had finished his speech, an old pioneer that had 
been at many of the hanging parties of Tobias, arose in the 
back part of the meetinghouse, and said that he thought it 
would be meet and proper to give Jonah some token of their 
repentance and esteem, and said that from time immemorial, it 
had been the custom of the persecuted to take upon themselves 
the opprobrious names given them by their persecutors. And as 
the newspapers in the Territory had in their blind adherence to 
Tobias, called Jacob Jonah “Wild Jake of the Woods,’ ’as a name 
that properly designated his outlawed and criminal character, he, 
the old pioneer, thought the opprobrious name of “Wild Jake of 
the Woods” would be a very beautiful name to have immor- 
talized by Jonah, by having it inscribed on some silent memo- 
rial of their love and esteem; something that Jonah could carry 
about with him in his daily walks, and that as Jonah had from what 
he had heard, acquired a name that gave him pre-eminence in 
the chase, he thought that a hunting knife would be generally 
recognized as the most appropriate gift, with the name that his 
persecutors had given him inscribed thereon up near the hilt. 
The proposition of the old pioneer was received with great en- 
thusiasm by all present. So a collection was taken up and a 
committee appointed to go to the nearest town to purchase the 


198 


PATRICK O' MONIGHAN, OR 


memorial hunting knife, and have inscribed thereon up near 
the hilt, “ Wild Jake of the Woods.” 

In due time and with the proper ceremony, the hunting 
knife was presented to Jonah with the endearing and immortal 
inscription thereon. And from that time forth Jonah was to be 
known by his heroic name, “ Wild Jake of the Woods,” and 
by that name he will hereafter be known in my story till I come 
to that part of my story wherein I give an account of his capture 
by the wild red nomadians of the desert. For it will be found 
that the savage nomadians adopted our hero Jacob Jonah, alias. 
Wild Jake of the Woods, under the name of “ Wild Horse.” 
Although Wild Jake of the Woods is a name that is not bad to 
the ear, I will sometimes, perhaps, call our hero Wild Jake 
simply, or even Jake for short. 

When Wild Jake had received a thousand tokens of love and 
esteem, he bade his admirers adieu for awhile and returned to 
the hermitage in the glen to tell his old friend Prince Martino 
how well he was received and how popular he w^s. He dis- 
played the memorial hunting knife with the heroic name in- 
scribed thereon. But last of all he mentioned to his dear old 
protector how he had reciprocated the admiration and lQve of 
a sweet girl. Yes, at last, as timid as he was of such matters, 
he told his dear friend Martino that Bob Day had a sister whose 
name was Deborah — Yes, Deborah Day. 



\ 


/ 


CHAPTER XXIV. 

Exploits of Jacob Jonah on Land. 

D EBORAH DAY — Deborah Day became the ambition — 
the soul of Wild Jake of the Woods. In his sleep — in his 
wake — his constant theme of thought — of talk — was Deborah Day, 
Deborah Day. He moved about the hermitage in the glen wear- 
ing a sad forlorn, and vacant look, sighing, sobbing and griev- 
ing ; and what had before been of use and pleasure to him, 
was of naught. At last Wild Jake made the cause of the heav- 
iness of his heart known to Prince Martino. It was his poverty, 
he told the Prince, that oppressed his heart. Before he loved 
Deborah Day, he had not thought of his poverty. But as he 
was about to wed a lady of refinement, of beauty, of grace, he 
was desirous that she should lead a life in comfortable ease and 
leisure. Wild Jake was thus at once made ambitious, and his occu- 
pation as a hunter he no longer esteemed or considered worthy 
of the love of Deborah Day. Yes, his occupation was gone. 
The chase that had afforded him a life of innocent pleasure, and 
that had clothed him, and had fed him, and had been alto- 
gether to his liking was now put but of all thought, or had sunk 
below his vaulting soaring ambition that came of the love he 
bore for Deborah Day. 

So Prince Martino, seeing that nothing would satisfy Wild 

Jake but an increase of wealth, proposed that they should at 

199 


200 


PATRICK O' MONIGHAN, OR 


once proceed to their mining interests, in Mexico, in the coun- 
try down below Santa Fe on the Rio Grande. The Prince was 
fully confident that he could find his gold and silver mines 
without much loss of time. So they would be able to com- 
mence their mining operations without delay. 

It was the first of December, A. D., 1826, a very opportune 
and agreeable time of the year to make the expedition to the 
mines of Mexico in the country down below Santa Fe on the 
Rio Grande. Prince Martino, who now looked forward to the 
future of Wild Jake with fatherly care, put on a good deal of his 
youthful vigor, and declared that he was confident that he could 
pilot the expedition across the desert in such a cautious way that 
they would not be molested by the wild red nomadians of the 
desert. So in a few days everything was put in readiness, and 
Wild Jake and Prince Martino set out on their unfortunate ex- 
pedition. On their many expeditions into the wild couutry 
when engaged as hunters, they had taken routes far north, and 
with which they were quite familiar. But in going to the mines 
of Mexico they were compelled to take a southern route and to 
pass through the territory of some wild nomadians with which 
the Prince had never formed an alliance. 

They had proceeded about ten days on their way without 
anything worthy of note transpiring. The last day of their un- 
fortunate expedition they had pushed their mules to their ut- 
most speed ; so that when nightfall came, both mules and men 
were tired out and ready to fall asleep. They went into camp, un- 
packed their mules, and tethered them out to grass and eat their 
supper. After supper they went to bed and slept until about the 
dawn of the next day. Then Wild Jake arose, took his gun and pail 
and started to a creek which was some rods away, to get water 
to make their morning beverage before resuming their expedi- 
tion onward. And just when in the act of stooping down to fill 
his pail with water, an arrow buzzed past his ear ; he wheeled 
and saw that the camp was taken and full of wild, red nomadians 
and a fierce nomadian was in hot pursuit of him. 

As quick as thought, Wild Jake raised his gun, and shot the 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 


201 


fierce red nomadian that pursued him. But at the same instant 
he saw a red burly nomadian holding the reeking, bleeding 
scalp of Prince Martino high up to view in the air as he uttered 
an appalling brutal yell. Wild Jake in an instant saw how it 
was. He took to his heels, and being swift on foot, made a 
speedy race to a thick forest that was not far away, for he knew that 
his only hope for protection was the cover of the friendly trees, 
and at every step he was followed with a shower of arrows and 
a volley of blood freezing yells. But fortunately he received 
no mortal wounds. Yet his clothes were full of arrows, many 
of which penetrated the flesh. Some of the red savage noma* 
dians mounted the two mules that were tethered out to grass 
near camp, and thus pursued Wild Jake. They had evidently 
left their own ponies some distance away. And so it was that 
Wild Jake’s own faithful mule now filled the requisition to hunt 
him down. But once in the woods, Wild Jake took to a tree 
and checked the onward charge of the wild red nomadians by 
assuming a threatening attitude and menacingly presenting his 
gun at the advancing nomadians. But the red savage nomadi- 
ans soon began to spread out on his flanks, and thus threaten 
his rear. So Wild Jake abandoned his sheltering tree, and 
fairly flew away through the thick brush till quite out of sight 
of his savage foes. Wild Jake knew that the cowardly red 
savage nomadians would not crawl around in the thicket 
looking for him seeing that he was armed. But he knew that 
they would try and capture him by cutting off his retreat. So 
he secreted himself as well as he could in the thicket in such a 
way that the nomadians could not stealthily creep up on him, 
and thus he kept on a sharp lookout all day. The place in 
which he was concealed was a dense thicket of plum bushes, 
but all around .the thicket the forest was open and without un- 
dergrowth, and one could not pass through it without being dis- 
covered. In the evening and after dark, Wild Jake discovered 
that he was surrounded on all sides, and that the red savage no- 
madians were thus lying in wait foj, him, and expecting that he 
would come forth and try to run away. 


202 


PATRICK O' MONIGHAN, OR 


Wild Jake was not long in seeing what would be his best 
course to escape through the lines of the red nomadians, He 
thought that it would be more easily to run the gantlet on 
the side of the thicket that he had entered at, and thus take his 
back tracks as he knew something of the country that he and 
the Prince had passed over. Accordingly, he seized his 
gun firmly in his left hand and made his bold, desperate charge 
and he went as silently as possible, and to his astonish- 
ing advantage, he was through the lines of the red fiends and 
had run at least one hundred yards before he was discovered by 
his savage foes. Then a wild, blood-freezing yell that split the 
elements, went up from a hundred savage nomadian throats. 
But Jake had a good fair start of them, and soon left his savage- 
screaming assailants far in his rear. He continued to run on 
his back tracks all night, that was back over the trail that 
he and the Prince had come in on. How far, or whether the 
savage nomadians followed hfm or not, he never found out. But 
after many days he reached the hermitage in the glen. 

There Wild Jake told the good faithful old servant Tom what 
had befallen his master. Poor old affectionate Tom wept till he 
was almost dead with heartbroken grief over the heart-rending 
news. So Wild Jake administered on the estate of Prince Mar- 
tino, and took to himself but enough to pay expenses and 
generously gave the residue to good old servant Tom, in ac- 
cordance with a previous will that Prince Martino had made in 
favor of old Tom. As to what was the final end of old Tom, Wild 
Jake never kept account ; although he gave it as his opinion 
that old Tom continued to live at the hermitage in the glen, 
and reached a very ripe old age before his bones mingled with 
the rocks of the glen. 

When Wild Jake had settled up Prince Martino’s affairs, he 
bade adieu to old Tom and the hermitage in the glen that had 
protected him many a stormy day, and hastened away to the 
settlement where his sweet Deborah Day still lived, and there 
he told her of the disastrous end of his golden prospects in Mex- 
ico in the country down below Santa Fe on the Rio Grande. 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 


203 


But he gave his dear Deborah fairly to understand that the 
gold of Prince Martino’s mines constituted his wealth and 
'would yet be unearthed, and that it was only a favorable time 
that he was waiting for, to put his plans into operation, and that 
early the following winter he proposed to put his plans to a 
practical test. His betrothed Deborah tried to dissuade her 
dear Wild Jake from his ambitious course. She pointed out to 
him and told him of the imminent perils that beset his ambi- 
tious course. She pointed to the fertility of the Arkansas Ter- 
ritory ; she said it was as fair a land as the ambition of man 
could desire ; that it was a land of peace and a land of plenty ; 
and even should his agricultural labors fail to bring rich rewards, 
and he should thereby remain poor and obscure, and be counted 
as one of the shabby, and as one of little worth, that she would 
still be thankful to him for a very small allowance of the glitter- 
ing things of life. But the lofty schemes of Wild Jake were 
not to be put out of his head thus by soothing, consoling words, 
or by proposing the humble, menial walks in their stead. 

Prince Martino’s gold secreted away in the mountains of 
Mexicq in the country down below Santa Fe on the Rio Grande, 
was the chief backbone of his loving, soaring ambition. Nor 
would the horrible reminder of Prince Martino’s scalp locks 
dangling in the uplifted hand of the red savage nomadian create 
the least bug-bear of fear in his mind. It was gold he wanted. 
Gold, gold, gold ; Prince Martinb’s gold. 

Wild Jake passed all the following spring, summer and au- 
tumn after the death of Prince Martino, in the neighborhood of 
his betrothed, Deborah Day. There he concocted his schemes 
in regard to his future career. There he rebuilt his air castles. 
There the wild wastes of the desert that lay between him and his 
possessions, received much cool thought, and all the towering 
difficulties were overcome in his own mind. After mature 
thought, the best route to avoid the wild, red nomadians was 
adopted. This was a route that lay far to the north of what 
would be his direct course to Mexico. Wild Jake was quite fa- 
miliar with this northern route, as it was used a great deal in 


204 


PATRICK O' M0N1GHAN, OR 


the good old days of Prince Martino when visiting the north- 
western nomadians of the desert. The reason for taking this 
northern route, and prefering the winter season as the best time 
is quite obvious. He would have less to fear from the red, 
savage nomadians, as they would seldom go far away from 
home to hunt in the winter season. And it was also known 
to Wild Jake that no nations made their winter homes along the 
route that he had determined to take. It was then a kind of a 
neutral land between the northern and southern red nomadians. 
So having made the best disposition of his affairs that he could, 
he bade adieu to his betrothed, Deborah Day. 


CHAPTER XXV. 


Exploits of Jacob Jonah on Land. 


O early in December, A. D., 1827, Wild Jake of the Woods 



set out to find the object of his avaricious ambition in the 
mines of Mexico, in the country down below Santa Fe, some- 
where on the Rio Grande River. Anticipating, no doubt, some 
rewards also from the chase, he had judiciously provided him- 
self with the latest improved make of rifle, as well as some of 
the best traps, and thus accoutred, he\felt hopeful of success; 
and with no living companion but a faithful, and sure-footed 
Arkansas mule, he set out for the base of the Rocky Mountains. 

His rifle was, as I have observed, of a newpatern, and an 
ornament to behold, and he had already fired it several times 
with successful results, whenever he wanted to replenish his 
game bag. And thus he proceeded on his way without any ado 
until he came to a place in a valley covered with a thick, dense 
wood, and of a dark, gloomy ominous aspect, and that had the 
appearance of harboring animals of wild, ferocious and impul- 
sive natures as well. Here it bethought him to be well on his 
guard, so he put an extra charge of powder in the barrel of his 
rifle, so that he might be able to fire with more deadly effect. 

Having done this, and feeling more secure, he was riding 
very carelessly along in the valley with his rifle across the horn 
of his saddle, when to his amazement and fear, his alert 


206 


PA TRICK O'MOMGHAN, OR 


eye ^caught sight of a monstrous savage brute in the very act of 
springing on him from an impending cliff. He wheeled in his 
saddle, and in an instant fired. But to his loss and utter lament, 
his rifle burst and flew in pieces from his bleeding hands, with- 
out doing any execution but the blinding and wounding of him- 
self. His faithful mule took sad fright and made a fearful leap, 
and poor Jonah being totally powder blind, was caught by a 
wild grape vine, and dragged from his saddle. He lay still for 
a few minutes in a stunned senseless state, and when he recov • 
ered sensibility, he expected every instant to feel the sharp 
claws of the wild, carniverous brute. So there he lay blind with 
his knife gripped fast in his hand determined to sell out to the 
wild brute at the end of a desperate conflict. 

Alter he had lain still for some time awaiting attack the 
powder had seaped away from his eyes in such quantities that 
he could open them. But to his great wonder and astonish- 
ment when he did open his eyes, he could see nothing, for he 
appeared to be buried in total darkness. Then he became ex- 
cited and unsteady and lost his presence of mind, and so 
forgot everything for a spell, and in his wild delirium he imag- 
ined that he had been numbered with the dead, and buried ac- 
cordingly by his friends. So he began to feel around for him- 
self as he thought, in his coffin ; and thus in trying to ascertain 
his real identity and whereabouts, he caused an ominous rustling 
of the leaves which added only to the threatening state of affairs. 
But he continued to crawl cautiously about for some time in his 
grave, and when he had crawled around for some minutes in his 
nervous and perplexed state of mind, the coolness and sober- 
ness of his mind returned and he began to see how it all was. He 
had been caught by a wild grape vine when his faithful mule 
took such sad fright, and thus he was dragged from his saddle 
and in falling, he had pulled the grape vine from its fastenings 
above, and as he fell he rolled down into a deep ravine, washed 
out at some period of time by the action of the water. 

And there at last he found himself, and came to a full un- 
derstanding of his circumstances. He was covered over with 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 


207 


an immense pile of vines and leaves and old rotten wood, and 
thus it was his buried state that accounted for the grave-like 
stillness that reigned around him. 

For there was undoubtedly a very severe snarling and snap- 
ping struggle going on above on the surface, as the evidence in 
the case that was afterwards collected and put together fully in- 
dicated. The evidence in the case seemed indeed to indicate clear 
enough that the faithful mule was devoured in a ’twinkling as it 
were, by wild beasts, immediately, or soon after Wild Jake had 
been unseated, and evidently the savage brute that had brought 
on the bloody engagement, had figured but as a very small 
factor in the conflict and feast. 

Wild Jake emerged very cautiously from his hiding place 
and gazed around in the gloaming, for it was late, to try to rec- 
ognize the exact spot where the action had begun. And not 
seeing anything of his faithful mule, dead or alive, his heart 
beat hopeful, for he was almost assured that his faithful compan- 
ion had escaped from the wild, fiendish brute, and had gone off 
to graze. But upon inspecting the earth more closely, he soon 
began to recognize circumstantial evidence that convinced him 
that his faithful mule had been totally devoured. 

For almost within reach of his arm lay a hoof, and there a 
shoe, and here again the contents of the mule’s stomach, and 
yonder the tree of his saddle, here again the contents of his 
meal sack whitened the ground, and lying about loose, and pro- 
miscuously scattered about everywhere, were iron buckles and 
stirrups, and little sad mementoes of his faithful mule. It was 
not hard, indeed, to account for the total annihilation of the 
faithful mule when he saw fully how it was, for it was not a very 
difficult feat for a wild legion of fiendish brutes to tear the 
faithful mule into fragments, and either carry them off to their 
dens, or # devour them on the spot. But how the wild monsters 
had devoured the saddle, was indeed a matter of so unsettled 
a nature that mere conjecture was the empty result of the deep- 
est study. But the best explanation would seem to be, and to 
this Wild Jake was agreed, that the ferocious murderous brutes 


208 


PA TRICK O' MONIGHAN, OR 


gathered about his faithful mule in such overwhelming numbers 
that it was too difficult for all to get a morsel of the faithful mule’s 
flesh, and in the terrible grab that ensued, the saddle was almost 
wholly devoured as part of the carcass. After Wild Jake had 
coolly taken in the full and deplorable situation of his affairs, he 
thought that the best thing that he could do would be to return 
back to his den of leaves and vines in the ravine below, and 
there remain till another day, for it was now night. 

After he had carefully settled himself in his bed to the very 
best advantage for repose, he began to urge his mind to some 
strategy that would surmount the difficulties of the following 
day. The night became extremely dark and starless, and a 
cold, drizzling, soaking, wetting, freezing rain set in. It was 
very easy to sum up the towering difficulties that he had to en- 
counter. 

He was just about midway between the Rocky Mountains 
ahd the settlements in the Arkansas Territory. His arms were 
reduced to a pair of horse pistols and a hatchet, and his memo- 
rial hunting knife on which was engraved, “ Wild Jake of the 
Woods.” And here I may as well add that this memorial knife 
was the keepsake of my father, and the same that I had when I 
was shipwrecked on the Mississippi River. 

Whilst Wild Jake was lying in his bed of leaves shivering 
with the cold, and in a very perplexed condition of mind, he 
was startled by one of the most unearthly cries that he had ever 
heard in the wild West. It did indeed seem at first that the cry 
proceeded from his own flesh, and he actually felt of himself to 
ascertain if he were not.annihilated. Again the cry was set up. 
This time he thought the cry proceeded from the earth below his 
bed and he was sure that he had located the cry in its proper place 
But again the cry was set up, and again Wild Jake’s mind was 
changed as to the proper location of the cry. This last yell was 
soon after answered by one a little different in tone, and 
from a new quarter. 

Wild Jake now began to realize that the cries were out in 
the valley, for pretty soon the whole valley resounded in one 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 


209 


unearthly cry. Wild Jake crawled out of his bed, and began 
investigations to ascertain the kind of animals from which the 
startling screams proceeded. He peered through the darkness, 
but the unholy dark night would reveal nothing but the same 
blood-freezing yells. But he was aware of one thing that was 
of no comfort to him, and that was that the startling screams 
were all coming nearer and nearer to him. Soon there was no 
distinction of screams, but the whole valley seemed to join in 
the general bewildering screams, when suddenly some object 
came tumbling down into the ravine where Wild Jake lay buried 
in the leaves with his head out listening to proceedings. He at 
once recognized the object that came tumbling down as the as- 
sault of some enemy, and immediately showed his coolness of 
mind and good grit, by firing off his pistol at the assailant, and 
in the flash of light discovered a huge wild cat. This revealed 
the wild and profound mystery. 

These nocturnal creatures of the valley had scented the blood 
of the faithful mule, and had gathered to look for the carcass. 
Wild Jake assured me that old hunters that had been reared and 
lived on the frontier from their infancy, could never get familiar 
with the screams of the wild cat, and could not distinguish that 
animal by its voice from other ferocious and carniverous beasts 
of prey. 

Wild Jake was not disturbed any more that night by the 
nocturnal inhabitants of the valley. He was very desirous, 
however', to see the stars, so that he could take his reckoning 
for the following day. At sea in his youthful days, he had 
carefully studied the course of the stars, a knowledge of which 
is very necessary to travelers in the uninhabited wilds. But the 
night was threatening and as dark as pitch, and not a star was to 
be seen ; and before daylight the cold, drizzling, freezing rain 
changed to a severe heavy, drifting snow storm ; so that by the 
dawn of day, the snow was two feet deep on a level plain, and. 
still snowing, and thus cut off all hope of going on to the moun- 
tains, or returning back to the settlements on foot, as there was 
possibility of doing before the snow fell. For if Wdd Jake 


a 


210 


PATRICK O' MONIGHAN, OR 


could have gone on to the mountains, he might have thrown 
himself on the hospitality of some daring hunter till able to pro- 
cure aid from his friends in the Arkansas Territory. Thus cut 
off by the deep snow fall from all hope of a speedy return to the 
settlements, or an advancement to the mountains, for the snow 
lay on all winter, and was the heaviest known for many years, 
Wild Jake set about to make the very best of his circumstances. 
It struck Wild Jake that if the ravine into which misfortune had 
so suddenly plunged him, could be rudely covered over, that it 
would protect him from the drifting snow and the cold, bleak, 
windy elements. He had sufficient ammunition to last him for 
some months to come, for when he was dragged from his mule 
his pistols, ammunition and provision bag, and in short all his 
accoutrements were fastened about his person, and were fortu- 
nately carried with his body down into the deep ravine into 
which it was his good fortune after all, to roll. So he set to 
cutting rafters with his hatchet for the roof,,and long before 
nightfall his recluse in the ravine looked like the house of 
primitive man. 

When he had made his house as comfortable as his confined 
means would allow, he cleared away the snow and leaves from 
below the door of his house, and built a fire, dried his garments, 
and began to feel cheerful and rather comfortable and happy, 
and was glad, indeed, to think that his misfortune was not even 
worse. The fire he thought if built below in the ravine, would 
keep the gray wolf and the panther from his door, whilst at the 
same time he could see to fire on any of the midnight prowlers 
without rising from his bed. 

It would seem that the ferocious animals that devoured the 
mule, were a pack of hungry mountain lions, or panthers, and 
sought the deep recesses of the mountains as soon as the snow 
storm set in, as they never more returned to molest Wild Jake. 
Here the daring Wild Jake of the Woods remained all winter, 
depending mostly on the results of his traps for his subsistence ; 
being very careful not to waste any of his munitions of war, not 
knowing what a day would bring forth. He had several minor 


21 1 


THE HIDDEfi TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 

engagements with his ferocious neighbors of the valley. But it 
is not my purpose in this story to dwell on small, trivial matters. 
Therefore, I shall give account of but one of his battles with 
the wild, ferocious beasts of the valley, and that shall be his 
great battle with the wolves, and through which he was led into 
captivity by the cunning red nomadians. 


i 


CHAPTER XXVI, 


Exploits of Jacob Jonah on Land. 

NE fine morning in the latter end of February, A. D., 



w 1828, Wild Jake went down the valley as usual to exam- 
ine his traps, when suddenly a fine deer started up before him. 
He pursued with pistol in hand without any thought of time or 
distance, till he had been in pursuit several hours, and it would 
now be nightfall before he could reach his recluse home in the 
ravine. 

He retraced his steps as fast as possible, and just about dark, 
as he neared the mouth of the ravine where his house was, he to 
his horror, heard a fearful snarling, snapping and growling which 
would seem to proceed from the ravine in the vicinity of his 
house. The ravine emerged into the open valley below, and 
when he had reached the mouth of the ravine, he knelt down 
and by peering closely to the ground, he discovered to his hu- 
miliating sorrow and astonishment, that a pack of hungry, prowl- 
ing gray wolves had come in and taken possession of his house 
and eaten all his provisions, and were now engaged in a selfish 
growl about the best place in his bed. For the moment it was 
a matter of some doubt and speculation as to the best mode of 
procedure. Wild Jake, however, after he had come to a proper 
balance of mind, thought that the best way to attack the hungry 
prowlers, would be to assume that kind of a position that would 

* 212 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 


213 


resemble a kind of a see-saw between the offensive and defensive. 
So climbing up a tree to a proper height, he fired off his pistol 
in the open air, aiming at the sky, not deeming it the proper 
thing to fire down on the wolves in his bed. 

The wolves tucked their tails between their legs and fled 
with hasty precipitation upon hearing the report of his pistol. 
They had appeased their hunger gnawing stomachs with the con- 
tents of his larder, and are of that peculiar, and I may add sen- 
sible disposition, that never shows fight only for the sake of the 
stomach. 

Wild Jake descended from his position up a tree, his strate- 
gic ruse having taken proper effect. But his eyes filled with 
tears as he gazed on his depleted walls and the mussed and dis- 
turbed condition of his bed. When he left home in the morn- 
ing, the walls of his house were strung with the frozen quarters 
of the jack-rabbit, and the beaver, and the small fry of various 
kinds that he had on hand ; and he could not but deplore his 
folly in following the deer whose flesh was not necassary for 
his food. 

However, he rebuilt his fire which had gone out, and spread 
his bed as best he could, troubled as he was too, with an 
empty, gnawing stomach, he must bear all his misfortunes 
with heroic patience, and depend upon his traps in the morn- 
ing for food. So he arose with the dawn the next morning, 
and had the good luck to find a pole-cat in the first trap that 
he visited. He secured the little animal and hurried home, 
for he was very hungry, and dressed it, and found when he 
had eaten its flesh that his hunger was appeased, and that he 
had taken a very hearty meal. 

His long experience on the frontier had filled him with 
cautious motives, and he knew full well that the carniverous 
wolves that had once robbed his house would try again to slip 
into his house in his absence and perform their old sneaking 
feat. So to prevent surprise, he managed to keep near his 
house, and visited his traps at midday. Sure enough the hun- 
gry, prowling pack came back the second evening after the rob- 


214 


PA TRICK O' MON1GHA N, OR 


bery, but a few timely and well directed shots scared them all 
away. Wild Jake now became alarmed lest the hungry pack 
should move on his castle all in a body, for in such an event 
he might be overwhelmed. Therefore at dusk every evening 
he built a great fire in front of his door, thereby hoping to 
frighten away the assailants. And at the same time in case of 
attack the light shed abroad on the surrounding slopes would 
enable him to take deadly aim on the assailants. 

But alas ! with all the cunning that Wild Jake possessed, 
he was in the end caught off his guard. One day on visiting 
his traps, he found that quite an assortment of the game and 
vermin of the valley had been taken. He secured ihe little 
animals and returned to his house without even thinking of 
one very important matter. He had carelessly taken his game 
and vermin by the heels and trailed them on the snow and 
ice ; so on the evening of the day that he had made this un- 
fortunate blunder, he built a big fire as usual down in the 
ravine below his door, and at the usual hour retired to bed. 

Soon after he had retired he heard a wolf howl in the 
valley at the mouth of the ravine. This of itself was 
a gentlfe monitor of what was coming ; so Wild Jake 
was at once put on his guard. The first howl was soon an- 
swered by many howls of various tones and character. Now 
Wild Jake got out of his bed and prepared to defend his fire- 
side, for it would seem that the first wolf that howled was 
but the scout, or advance guard of the main body of assail- 
ants. For pretty soon reinforcements began to arrive, judging 
from the continuous yelling that was set up far below in the 
valley. And it was plain enough, indeed, that the first wolf 
that struck the trail where the game and vermin had been 
dragged on the snow and ice, gave notice to the main body, 
for whenever a wolf from the rear would strike the trail, it 
would follow up the trail to Jake’s fire, yelling all the way. 
Then seeing the fire and Jake, it would stop and follow the 
trail back the other way. Thus the wolves continued to run 
over the trail for some time ; but still coming nearer and nearer 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 215 

to Wild Jake’s castle and giving threatening looks in that di- 
rection. It was evident that the wolves were increasing in 
numbers very fast, and were about to move on Wild Jake’s 
castle all in a body. So Wild Jake examined the priming of 
his pistols, and felt of the edge of his hunting knife, and bravely 
awaited the assault, and with the hope, too, that the assailants 
would attack in detail. But in this his hope was ill-founded, 
for the whole army of assailants surrounded his house at the 
distance of one hundred yards and moved up in a solid column, 
and a battle opened that proved to be the most brilliant and 
sanguinary affair of the kind that was ever waged in the wild 
West ) for never was the fireside of a patriot defended with 
more zeal. 

The enemy now advancing in strong force, and now re- 
treating with heavy loss and dismembered battalions. When 
he would fire and kill some of the assailants the column would 
fall back for reinforcements and again renew the assault. Thus 
the battle was maintained for hours till Wild Jake’s fire-arms 
had grown too hot for constant use. Then he thought of 
changing his mode of warfare. The plan which had matured 
in his mind was to advance firing till he had broken through 
the lines of the enemy, and then retreat to some neighboring 
tree and climb for safety. This plan was about to find fruition, 
and he was bracing himself for the final, desperate charge 
through the lines, when all of a sudden the whole army of 
besiegers put themselves, as it were, to precipitate flight. 


CHAPTER XXVII. 


Exploits of Jacob Jonah on Land. 

B UT alas for all human hopes and the grandest achieve- 
ments of men. The sad sequel of the story of the battle 
against the wolves remains yet to be told. Wild Jake of the 
Woods had now won for himself glory and renown that would 
have received immortality on the scroll of Fame with Leonidas, 
Washington, and General Andrew Jackson, had the eye wit- 
nesses of his battle against the wolves been men of a civilized 
race. 

For, it so turned out that a party of red nomadians of the 
desert had gone into camp about a mile below his house in 
the valley, and had been all the while mute listeners, taking 
note of the battle, and, during the protracted siege, had come 
lip the valley to see the combatants with the instinctive hope 
to acquire a few scalps in case the combatants proved to 
belong to tribes without the pale of neutrality. 

And this was ,the key to the flight of the wolves. The 
red nomadians came sneaking up in the rear and were scented 
by the wolves, which caused their disorderly, precipitate flight. 

Wild Jake lay down on his bed and meditated for some 
time on the comforts of civilized pursuits ; the memories, too, 
of his sweet girl Deborah Day, caused mournful, burning tears 
to flow down his dauntless face. “ How much better and 

216 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 


217 


happier,” thought he, “ would I now be, had I but taken the 
advice of my dear girl, Deborah Day, and submitted to a 
calling in the humble walks of life. Had I but taken the 
consoling advice of my dear girl, I would now enjoy all the 
comforts that are necessary to make an Arkansas farmer happy. 
But the ambition I had to secure Martino’s gold, had control 
of my course.” 

And there he lay on his bed resolving and thinking more 
about his dear girl that he left behind him, than he thought 
of the gold mines in Mexico, in the country . down below 
Santa Fe, somewhere on the Rio Grande river. Fatigue and 
reflection soon brought on a heavy stupor, and he fell into 
something of a slumber ; when with a sudden crash the whole 
roof of his house fell on him with immense pressure. 

Wild Jake immediately set to work to extricate himself, 
but this he found quite difficult ; for the timbers of the roof 
had been broken and slivered in various ways, so that his 
clothes were penetrated through in various places, and thus he 
found himself pinioned and fastened to the ground. The 
great snow falls of the winter had lain on the ground for 
months, and on the near approach of spring had become soft 
and adhesive. The wily red nomadians of the desert had 
taken note of this circumstance, and had rolled an immense 
ball to the brink of the ravine above Wild Jake’s house, and 
watching their opportunity, they let the immense ball roll. 
And as a military effort, human ingenuity could not have 
been more skillful as well as successful in devising military • 
plans ; for there was pool Wild Jake as secure as any beaver 
that he had ever taken from his trap. 

The red nomadians of the desert were Silent lookers on 
from a convenient distance above, and when made sure by 
Wild Jake’s struggles that he was not in a fighting attitude, 
they raised an apalling yell and rushed on their prostrate 
victim. But there was ope thing about the yelling red no- 
madians that struck Wild Jake with peculiar emphasis. When 
the wild men of the desert were rushing down the slope to 

* 


218 


PATRICK O’MONIGHAN, OR 


seize him, one of them ejaculated, “ar-rah.” This interjec- 
tion, “ar-rah,” Wild Jake had become quite familiar with at 
sea in his youthful days, as it was much in vogue among the 
sailors that hailed from the Cove of Cork. 

Hope died within the heart of Wild Jake. At first he 
supposed the thaw had caused the snow to roll down on him 
of its own motion. But now the truth appeared. He ex- 
pected every moment to feel the keen edge of the scalping 
knife or tomahawk. But the red nomadians of the desert 
that captured him, reserved him for a better purpose. He 
was intended for a better and more lofty performance. His 
captors at first proposed to carry him to camp and roast him 
alive for the amusement of the women and children of the 
band. But the wild men afterwards determined otherwise 
for prudential reasons. For the band of red nomadians that 
surprised Wild Jake were on their way to visit their friends at 
the North, the great Sioux nation. 

The blood-thirsty, red nomadians of the desert were happy 
and in great glee over their successful efforts in trapping 
Wild Jake under the snowball. For it so proved that the 
ejaculation, “ ar-rah,” that the quick ear of Wild Jake first 
caught as the children of the desert rushed down on him when 
entrapped under the ruins of his house, and the snowball had 
a national significance that proved indeed, the very resurrec- 
tion, as it were, of Wild Jake. For Providence had so ordered 
it that in the band that captured Wild Jake, there was an 
adopted son of more than thirty years standing in the band. 
The adopted son was born in the “Green Isle of the Sea,” 
that is to say, in hallowed old Ireland. 

The adopted son that betrayed his nativity by uttering the 
interjection “ ar-rah,” in contempt of some of his red brethren 
that came in his way as he rushed down the slope on the 
helpless Wild Jake, was often sent to posts within the bounds 
of the pale-faces to exchange peltries and the products of the 
deserts for such commodities as the red nomadians used. The 
adopted son in this way had before seen the captive Wild 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 


219 


Jake, and knew of his importance on the frontier of the 
Arkansas Territory. And most important of all interests in 
the matter, the adopted son on one of his journeys to a trading 
post, fiad been hospitably entertained at the hermitage in the 
glen of good old Prince Martino, with whom the captive Wild 
Jake had seen many a prosperous day ; so that the adopted 
son was in possession of facts that were highly interesting to 
his band, and the savages thought indeed that they had se- 
cured a very valuable captive. For there is nothing that so 
much fills the ideal of a savage mind as a daring, noted 
hunter. 

After mature thought and debate, it seems that the savages 
determined to carry their captive, Wild Jake, along with them 
until they reached the villages of their allies, the great Sioux 
nation. There they proposed to roast the captive Wild Jake 
alive for the amusement of the women and children, and the 
old superanuated men and women that could see but little of 
the pleasantries of the world outside of camp. 

With such high hopes ahead they looked forward to an 
event that would serve to rivet and strengthen the ties of na- 
tional friendship that were already strong between the two 
wild nations. 

The savages took great care to make their captive, Wild 
Jake, secure. The bravest warriors were placed on guard 
over the captive that they deemed a mighty hunter. The 
red nomadians were afraid that the wily hunter had some 
medicine enchantment about his person with which he could 
sever the cords that bound him, and thus escape. They sup- 
posed that on account of his brilliant success in his battle 
against the wolves, of which they were eye-witnesses, that he 
had some enchantment in his possession, which came forth 
to perform wonders whenever the marvelous Wild Jake so 
ordered it. 

The red nomadians of the desert carried the captive Wild 
Jake along with them on their northward march, which was 
without delay, until they reached a great river. I think it 


220 


PATRICK O' MONIGHAN, OR 


was the Platte river of Nebraska. This river was much swollen 
from the melting snow, and the red nomadians found it im- 
possible to cross with their ponies. So the best thing that 
they could do was to find a good camping ground, and go 
into camp till the turbulent waters of the river would go 
down. 

So, heading the band down stream, the march was con- 
tinued till a forest several miles in extent was reached. Here 
they unpacked their ponies, built their camp fires, and were 
happy once more. 

Wild Jake of the Woods first discovered the adopted son 
that hailed from the “ Green Isle of the Sea” in this way: 
During the northward march, the captive Wild Jake had used 
all his cunning and experience to ingratiate himself with his 
captors, and especially with abroad-faced red nomadian, that 
seemed of commanding significance, and importance in the band. 

This peculiar valiant red nomadian that attracted the at- 
tention of the captive Wild Jake on account of his broad 
features and peculiar gestures, was the adopted Irishman. 
Wild Jake on more than one occasion also imagined that he 
caught from the red nomadian’s tongue something that sounded 
like the exclamation, “ ar-rah,” that fell on his ear as the red 
nomadian rushed down on him when he was fastened down 
under the ruins of his house in the ravine. And putting the 
exclamation ‘‘ar-rah,” and the gestures, style and broad 
features of the wild red nomadian all together, Wild Jake would 
imagine that the wild man of the desert was of a separate and 
distinct race from his wild companions, and if so, he was surely 
a son of the “ Green Isle of the Sea.” 

Wild Jake would sometimes imagine, too, that this wild 
man of the desert painted his broad face with something of a 
style that despite counterfeiting savored of the pale face’s art. 
It appeared, too, that this broad faced child of the desert was 
an eloquent orator, that -made many speeches to the band in 
a conversational style, but always interlarded with energetic 
and appropriate gestures, that were not of the manner of his 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF 1 OLD UZARRO. 


221 


wild red brethren. Although the peculiarities of this wild man 
of the desert, Wild Jake would after all attribute to some pe- 
culiarity of mind and person — and it was quite easy to subside 
into this belief, as the peculiar red nomadian appeared to be 
leader of the band. 

When the captive Wild Jake was taken and carried to camp 
in the valley near his ruined house, he observed that it was 
the speech of the broad- faced nomadian that appeared to 
prevail in council and debate when the question seemed 
to be put as to whether he should be roasted on the 
spot, or carried along with the band till such a time, 
at least, when more women and children could be present to 
witness the entertainment, and thus have full honor accredited 
to the band. This peculiar broad faced nomadian would, 
when the band was huddled about the camp fire, be the main 
orator, and the great camp-fire tales that he told with so much 
earnestness and vim to his attentive audience, Wild Jake 
afterwards found out were the personal prowess stories of the 
oratqr given in detail. 

The broad faced nomadian would be on such occasions, 
narrating how he had slain the British pale faces during the 
late Irish rebellion that had driven him from the land of his 
birth, and where he had been’ Chief. That was the “Green 
Isle of the Sea,” or dear old Ireland. 

Of course whatever told of death to the pale faces of any 
nation was received with good will by his red brethren; for 
they knew not, nor did they care anything about the troubles 
that made wars among the pale faced nations. So that the 
story told of death to the pale faces, the red nomadians of the 
desert were content and pleased. 

Sometimes the broad faced nomadian would lay his stories 
at sea, where amid storm and billow and the crashing of 
timbers, he was the biggest brave, ‘and principal survivor. 

The captive Wild Jake revived the memory also, that the 
broad faced nomadian lead the charge when the band rushed 
down on him when he was struggling under the ruins of his 


222 


PATRICK O' MONIGHAN, OR 


house and the snowball ; and Wild Jake grew strong in the 
belief all the time that the broad faced nomadian was the 
author of the exclamation “ar-rah,” that was lost in the air 
as the band charged down after the snowball. 

When the red nomadians went into camp on the river above 
mentioned, they made for themselves quite comfortable quar- 
ters. It seemed, indeed, that they were very careless about 
going forward. They had started early in the spring, so as to 
avoid battle with several tribes with which they were at war, 
and, having passed all danger when they reached the swollen 
river, they were quite content to remain in camp till such time 
as the waters would subside, and the weather grow more pleas- 
ant and spring-like. Game was abundant in the surrounding 
country, and the red nomadians were as joyful and happy as 
human beings could well be. 

Here on this swollen river the band remained in camp until 
the turbulent waters had subsided, and the river had become 
quite shallow and tranquil. The leaves of the surrounding forest 
trees had assumed a green tint, and the air with a warm, balmy, 
and spring-like mellowness was filled with the matin songs of 
the birds returning to northern waters and forests. The poor, 
yellow dogs that had lain so long in the ashes about the camp 
fires, yawned and basked in the heal of the sun. Everything 
indicated that the storms of early spring were ov^r, and that 
all nature was about to renew life. 

The red nomadians were now encamped in the land of their 
allies, the Sioux, but the villages of that powerful nation of 
nomadians were farther to the north. As the warm days ap- 
proached, the band began to show signs of uneasiness and a 
desire to cross the river and continue on their way northward. 

T. he members of the band would stand about in little groups of 
three or four and talk energetically, and now and then cast a 
look toward the captive Wild Jake, who soon understood that 
he was the sole theme of debate. It now became apparent that 
the wild nomadians of the desert were debating the best way 
to dispose of their captive Wild Jake before they should resume 


TfiE HIDDEN TEE AS URE OF OLD UZARRO. 


223 


their way northward. And here again in these debates, the 
broad faced nomad ian that Wild Jake supposed to be the au- 
thor of “ar-rah,” showed his usual importance and influence in 
all that was being said. He, it was true, appeared most im- 
portant in council, but seemed to meet with a great deal of 
strife and opposition in the last debate about the disposition to 
be made of their captive. 

Wild Jake observed that the broad faced nomadian as he 
spoke with much vehemence would occasionally look toward 
him. Wild Jake at first interpreted the actions of the broad 
faced nomadian as bearing evil indications, and began to make 
up- his mind to bear his misfortune with fortitude and resigna- 
tion. But as Wild Jake watched the broad faced nomadian, he 
imagined that he could see tear drops moisten and glisten in his 
eye and roll down his furrowed face. Wild Jake could not 
believe that the eyes of the savage nomadian were moistened 
with tears, and even could it be so, he could not believe that 
they were tears shed in sympathy for him. But after a tire- 
some speech, the broad faced red nomadian of the desert ap- 
proached the captive Wild Jake, and taking him by the hand, 
he said, “ My name is Timothy O’Mulloon.” 


t 


CHAPTER XXVIII. 


Exploits of Jacob Jonah ojs Land. 

W HEN the broad faced nomadian approached Wild Jake 

of the Woods, and said “ My name is Timothy O’Mul- 

loon,” Wild Jake was overcome with emotion and quite unr 

done. His feelings took control of his mind at the first sound 

of his native tongue. It had been so long since he had re- 
/ . * 
ceived the voice or hand of human kindness, that the action of 

the broad faced nomadian in approaching him with a kind ad- 
dress came near unhinging his mind forever. 

At the first touch of the red nomadian’s friendly hand, Wild 
Jake of the Woods imagined that he had been translated to an- 
other world. For indeed it seemed to him that he was sitting 
bodiless without material support in the vacant air. 

When the captive Wild Jake had recovered his coolness of 
mind, the broad faced nomadian proceeded to tell the remark- 
able story of his life. Wild Jake of the Woods, Jacob Jonah, 
my uncle, the overseer, always told me the story of the red faced 
nomadian, Timothy O’Mulloon, in a half dramatized way. Jacob 
Jonah, my uncle, would always impersonate the. broad faced 
nomadian when he told the story, and thus he gave the story a 
pleasing, thrilling and romantic effect, which left a deep impres- 
sion on my youthful mind, and I will tell you the story as it 
was told me After the broad faced nomadian took Wild Take 

224 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 


825 

of the Woods by the hand and said “ My name is Timothy O’- 
Mulloon,” he waited until Wild Jake recovered his composure 
of mind again, and then he began his story. 

“ I h ave been using,” said he, “ my greatest endeavors with 
my band of followers to have you adopted as my son. I have 
known something of you and your greatness as a hunter when 
you lived in the hermitage of the glen with Prince Martino on 
the Arkansas frontier, and I have just got permission from my 
band to address you in your own native tongue. When I was 
talking to my brethren, I was telling them that you were a 
countryman of my own, or at least descended from a son of old 
Ireland, which I 'discovered, I imagined, from your style of 
features. This was necessary for me to do ; I must claim you 
as being a native of my own native land, else the members of 
my band can not see the propriety of my making an appeal in 
your behalf. So you will understand that I am making an 
appeal for you through the nationality of old Erin. And now 
for the first time in many years have the sympathies of my heart 
gone out in kindness for a pale face. 

“ I was a native of the city of Cork, where I was reared 
amid affluence and refinement, and when I had reached the 
twenty-third year of my age I had become a physician of high 
standing among all the best families of my native city. And 
my name in old Ireland, as I have have told you, was Timothy 
O’Mulloon. And having thus reached the estate of manhood 
amid wealth and luxury, I was of an ideal and a romantic turn 
of thought, and became fired up with patriotic motives. I had 
read much, and of my reading were the old historic senti- 
ments of the brave martyrs that perished that they might leave 
old Erin a crown of glory. So when I had reached my twenty- 
third year, my devotions to my country grew strong, and I 
began to burn for an opportunity to free old Ireland, and thus 
place her on the roll of the free ; whilst at the same time I 
thought it would afford me a fair chance to put my own name 
on the scroll of rank and fame. So when everything appeared 
ripe for an uprising, I became clamorous and bold for revolt. 


PATRICK O' MONIGHAN, OR 


226 

I attacked the old English king without any apparent fear of 
consequences. I made it appear that I would be prepared to 
stand by the issue that I had taken with the old king till the 
death. And when the incipient rebellion was of sufficient 
growth and strength to warrant organized efforts and discipline. 

I chartered the basement of a large building, and in its dark 
and shadowy vaults I unfurled the green emblem of old Erin, of 
which the old English king was so fearful. And there in the 
dark basement I succeeded in stirring up the people of Cotk, 
till they were on the very verge of war. And yet all there was 
of it, I had but espoused the cause and clamor of the poor. A 
theme you must know that is grave and popular among the 
masses of men. And through the earnestness that I hoped to 
make successful in your behalf, and which has. gained me a 
place ov'er the wild red nomadians of the desert, it is but fair to 
presume that I succeeded in gaining many of rank and wealth 
who joined my cause, not out of disgust for the* oppres- 
sion of the old king, but out of ardor set agoing in their hearts 
upon hearing my orations in behalf of the helpless poor. I was 
a physician and my profession gave me an opportunity to im- 
part my secrets where they would do my cause the most good, 
and at the same time be kept from the ear of the old English 
king. My rebellious adherents were of the best war material, 
so far as I could judge from the outward appearances of soldiers. 
All the recruits that were enlisted under the banner of old 
Erin were fine, fair, able bodied men, that knew of nothing but 
peaceful pursuits and a common place in life, and were under 
my leadership to take their first taste of the bitter fruits of war ; 
but would in my opinion, beyond all shadow of doubt, have 
met the old English king with courage enough. 

“ But alas ! for the visions of human glory. I had admitted 
to the society to free old Ireland, a young man of the name 
of Edmond Hardy. Yes, two-faced Edmond Hardy; and he 
envied me my rising importance, and my political and social 
abilities. And the fwo-faced Edmond Hardy was jealous of 
me, besides, on account of the place I held in the affections of 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 


227 


a certain beautiful girl of the name of Mary Deal. She loved 
and admired me for my patriotism and lofty bearing. Yes, she 
favored me and was, 1 heartily believe, devoted to my cause 
and my self-sacrificing efforts to better the condition of the 
helpless poor. 

“The good graces of Mary Deal added flavor and strength 
to my ardent but young and honest ambition. In fact to be 
appreciated by the fair Mary Deal fired my already overdone 
zeal. 

“Now the young man that envied me my future prospects, 
the two-faced Edmond Hardy, loved also the fair Mary Deal, 
and seeing that she was about to adopt me and become my part- 
ner in glory, took this favorable opportunity to inform the old 
English king of my disloyalty. The two-faced Edmond Hardy 
saw that I was sitting on a magazine that would explode at the 
slightest touch, and needed but a single spark to blow me and 
my patriotic followers out of existence, and consequently out 
of his way to the love of the fair Mary Deal. It would at least 
cause me and my liberty-loving followers to rekindle our fire 
of love in some land more congenial to our devotion. And in 
this way the two-faced Edmond Hardy was seemingly giving 
his hand to me to aid to successful revolution, while at the 
same time he knew that he was gaining everlasting fame and 
favor with the old English king, by whispering exagerated ac- 
counts of my rebellious doings in the old king’s ear. The old 
English king had promised the two-faced Edmond Hardy re- 
ward and social and political importance, if he would success- 
fully entrap me and my followers. And the two-faced Edmond 
Hardy came nearly up to the old king’s most sanguine expec- 
tations. He missed me only in his devilish aim, else he would 
have completely filled the requisition. 

** The two-faced Edmond Hardy had my unbounded confi- 
dence and esteem, so that he had all the necessary information 
to set about his treacherous work. The two faced Edmond 
Hardy proposed to me that an immense gathering of ail those 
dovoted to my cause should take place in the basement where 


PATRICK O' MOMGHAN, OR 


s*3 

we met, and with apparent carelessness named a night in the 
dark of the moon. Accordingly the meeting of universal im- 
portance came on as appointed. And going to a great length 
with his scheme, the two-faced Edmond Hardy got around me, 
and told me that I must lay aside all my reserve and apparent 
pity for the old English king, and at the mass meeting of 
my followers speak out the true and full sentiments of my 
heart, which the two- faced Edmond Hardy knew to be very 
warm and radical in my breast ; and which every true member 
of the society to free old Ireland loved to hear so well. The 
two-faced Edmond Hardy got around other members of my so- 
ciety to free old Ireland, and had them also to urge me to 
prepare an inflaming oration for the mass meeting occasion. 

“ In accordance with ail these secret devices of the two- 
faced Edmond Hardy, all the members of the society, and all 
those whose hearts beat in unison with my own, were out in full 
force at the basement mass meeting. Many new members were 
to be enrolled that night, and for such reason the two-faced 
Edmond Hardy urged upon me the necessity of dwelling on 
the old English king’s oppression with the most scathing and 
fearless oratory. 

“ The two-faced Edmond Hardy had managed to get my 
pass word to several of the old king’s spies, who were at my 
mass meeting with their ears open wide enough. So on 
the appointed night, when the basement was filled to overflow- 
ing of my rebellious adherents, and when I was pouring forth 
my patriotic but dark schemes in a voice of awakening power 
and influence, and many of the patriots were seen to rise here 
and there in their absence of mind as if to throw off the gall- 
ing yoke of the old king. 

Just then a rushing noise was heard as if made by the 
trampling of many feet. I was startled ! My arm that was 
uplifted in the air fell by my side as the noise out in front of 
the basement fell on my ear. 

Instantly a company of the old king’s minions rushed 
down the front stairs leading to the basement where I was 


THE HIDDEN treasure of old uzarro. 

holding forth. I stood in the rear where my stand was erected, 
and it so seemed that the old king’s hirelings had not thought 
of my escape only at the front entrance of the basement, and 
it was thus that they were fpiled, for I had provided for the 
emergency, and had made a secret way of exit through the rear, 
which I had kept as my secret even from my confidential friend 
the two-faced Edmond Hardy. So when my keen, youthful 
eye caught sight of my enemies approaching in front, I made a 
rapid transit through my secret way in the rear, and made off 
under cover of the intense fog and darkness of the night. So 
after all the darkness of the night was to my good. 

“ Some of my recruits attempted to follow me through the 
dark safety valve in the rear, but were halted, and the whole 
body of my adherents was bagged. Not one escaped but my- 
self, and so effectual was the surprise that I did not have time to 
pick up my hat and carpet bag that contained all my rebellious 
doctrines and documents.” 


i 


CHAPTER XXIX. 


Exploits of Jacob Jonah on Land. 

HEN Wild Jake of the Woods, Jacob Jonah, my uncle, 



V V the overseer, would tell the story of Timothy O’Mul- 
loon, the broad-faced nomadian of the desert, he would always 
become deeply affected as the memories of his dear old captor 
and companion would revive and return. And thus it was that 
the story always left a deep and melancholy impression on me. 
For it affected me deeply to think that the high aim and lofty 
hopes of the rebel chieftain were thus so grievously humbled 
and that he should be forced to flee from old Ireland and to 
live in exile among the wild red nomadians of the desert. 

My uncle, Wild Jake of the Woods, Jacob Jonah, the over- 
seer, would musingly say to himself, “ My name is Timothy 
O’Mulloon.” And whenever he had told his dramatized story 
of the wandering exile, I could alway see that a sympathetic 
tear moistened in his eye accompanied with a parting sigh. 
And many a time during the many years that I remained on 
the plantation did I request my uncle, the overseer, to tell me 
the story of Timothy O’Mulloon that he had dramatized so 
well. With these observations. I will now return to my story of 
Timothy O’Mulloon, the broad-faced nomadian and continue 
the story as it was told me in the language of the first speaker. 

“ The military,” said Timothy O’ Muiloon, “ proceeded to 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 231 

make their prisoners secure by stationing guards at every ave- 
nue of escape that lead out of the basement where my rebellion 
was being hatched. I was out in the darkness alone. Had I 
been able to grab my carpet bag that contained my declaration 
of independence, together with the constitution of the society 
to free old Ireland, and many other papers of various import, 
such as my orations and resolutions and all such papers in gen- 
eral- that had a bearing on the contemplated revolution, I 
would have felt much safer and better. Nor will I forget to 
mention that in the very same carpet bag that I left behind me 
in the basement was a manuscript of very revolutionary ten- 
dencies that had been prepared by the two-faced Edmond 
Hardy in order to make sure of my total suppression and dis- 
honorable end. The two-faced Edmond Hardy had prepared 
a paper and told me to submit it to the opinion and good will 
of the society to free old Ireland, on the very night, too, that 
the old king’s soldiers were to make the raid on me. Of course 
the two-faced Edmond Hardy well knew that all these rebel- 
lious papers would be attributed to me as author or sponsor. 
This paper in particular that had been prepared by the two- 
faced Edmond Hardy took very dark and rebellious grounds, 
that I had not till that time ever thought of. This rebellious 
document of the two-faced Edmond Hardy went to a great 
length to recite the long train of wrongs that the old English 
king had visited on old Ireland, and then went on further to 
resolve on a scheme that was to find fruition in the kid-napping 
of the old English king and ail the members of the royal family 
and thus depose them from their royal estate and power by con- 
cealing them in a dungeon, and then next in order to place me 
or some royal Irish rebel on the throne instead. The military, 
of course, seized on my carpet bag that contained the murder- 
ous scheme of the two-faced Edmond Hardy, together with all 
my own true papers that contained many patriotic and repub- 
lican, but sure enough, disloyal sentiments. So you may 
know that my carpet bag with its interesting contents, was 
forthwith dispatched to the old English king. 


S3* 


PATICK O'MONIGHAN, OR 


“ The first favorable opportunity when the old king was all 
alone, he opened my carpet bag, set it down by the side of his 
throne, put on his spectacles, and proceeded to investigate my 
secret plottings and machinations therein. The old king be- 
came much excited and fearful as my plots and secrets revealed 
themselves. But such was the overwhelming nervous and men- 
tal effect of the paper that was prepared by the two-faced Ed- 
mond Hardy that proposed the old king’s abduction, that he 
swooned and creeled over in his throne, his crown falling off in 
a spittoon by his side. His private secretary coming in soon 
afterwards found him in this dangerous predicament, and at 
once dashed a bucket full of cold water in his face. 

“ When the old king had recovered sufficient strength to 
admit of his removal from his throne, he was carefully put to 
bed, and the ministry notified and made^aware of the Dr. Tim- 
othy O’Mulloon uprising in Cork. 

“ The consequence was that a very liberal reward was offer- 
ed by the old king for my body dead or alive, 'just as good 
dead,’ the proclamation read. In this extremity I found it 
hard to escape and so become a wandering exile in foreign 
lands. 

"I had concealed myself in the dark cellars of my friends 
in the city of Cork ; but this protection was liable to fail me at 
any minute of the day on account of the liberal rewards that 
were offered for me. So I was kept in a boiling state of fear. 
Yet I was determined to stay in dear old Ireland that I loved 
so well, if by fair promises of future loyality the old English 
King would forgive my past. But it would seem that the old 
English king had no such lenient motives to entertain. For the 
two-faced Edmond Hardy was behind the throne stirring up the 
old king’s rage. So I continued to keep away in dark cellars, 
hoping all the time that my cause would become known and 
popular, and provoke a general uprising among my friends, 
when I would be enabled to come forth from my obscurity and 
head the rebels. But as time wore on, from what I could hear, 
the revolution quieted down. All of my most devoted adher- 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 


*33 


ents were cowed and glad to accept an opportunity to take the 
oath of future loyalty. And, indeed, many of them enlisted in 
the old king’s armies, and were virtually transported to distant 
lands. So I found that ali^were set scot-free but myself. And 
for me the old English king continued to increase rewards, and 
to hound me with his hirelings. 

“ Despite the embarrassing circumstances of my condition, 
my heart was still warmed and made hopeful with the love it 
bore for my sweet girl Mary Deal. I thought my dear girl 
would be repining in her love for me, till by some fortunate 
means I would be able to walk forth from my hiding place. 
But when I had been hid away in dark places for many days, I 
became uneasy lest my sweet girl Mary Deal should prove faith- 
less, and espouse the side of loyalty with the old English king 
and the two-faced Edmond Hardy. I could not imagine why 
she did not make her love known to me by sending me some 
forget-me-not ; some silent token that would encourage me, and 
keep me above despair. Yes, I longed and looked for some 
silent, practical love token from my dear girl Mary Deal. 1 
sent trusty friends to her to inform her of my hiding place. Yet 
no token of love ever came to encourage me in my lonesome 
hours. But my mind was soon relieved of its illusion and sus- 
pense, for one dark night a true friend crept into my solitary 
hiding place, and made known to me the changes that had been 
made since the premature collapse of the rebellion. My friend 
told me that Mary Deal had gone over body and soul to the 
side of loyalty, to the old English king and two-faced Edmond 
Hardy, and that if the faithless Mary Deal had any knowledge 
of my hiding place, that I had better make haste to change to 
some other place of concealment, and thus elude arrest and 
escape the clutches of the hangman, which would surely follow. 

“ Upon hearing this discomfiting news, I was quite over- 
come. When I saw that the faithless Mary Deal had forsaken 
me, X lost all hope of ever doing anything glorious or good. I 
wanted to rush boldly forth from my cover and attack the two- 
faced Edmond Hardy, and embowel him in his tracks. But 


*34 


PATRICK O' MO NIG HAN, OR 


my friend laid hands on me and dissuaded me from the desper- 
ate measure that I was bent upon. My friend changed me to a 
place of better concealment, and cautioned me to remain quiet, 
reminding me that the future was pregnant of marvelous won- 
ders and events, and that good fortune might after all come to 
me in my obscurity and darkness. The revolution might break 
out afresh he said, perhaps it was only smouldering whilst the 
fires burnt noislessly, but constantly down deep below. And so 
on in this way my friend endeavored with cheering words to 
keep me above despair. 

“ But alas ; matters instead of getting better grew worse and 
bore heavy on me. For it was heralded through the news that 
an aristocratic wedding would on a given day take place. And 
the high contracting parties were the beautiful and accomplish- 
ed, but still faithless, Mary Deal, and the gallant, but two-faced 
Captain Edmond Hardy, who had as the loyal people said, so 
successfully succeeded in overthrowing what might have been 
the bloody conspiracy of Dr. Timothy O’Mulloon. The news- 
papers were filled with columns of praise for the two-faced Ed- 
mond Hardy, and his faithless Mary Deal. And all the syco- 
phants of the old English king took this favorable opportunity 
to avow their loyalty afresh. Consequently more bitterness was 
constantly being stirred up against me. 

“ Thus, being forsaken by the faithless Mary Deal, and 
seeing that all hope of reconciliation with the old English king 
was cut off, my friends advised me to devise means of escape, 
for they said to stay in old Irelund would be to give myself up 
to the hangman of the old English king. 

“ Accordingly a time was set to make my exit from dear old 
Ireland. And the time that was fixed for my departure was the 
night succeeding the wedding of the two-faced Edmond Hardy 
and the faithless Mary Deal. A royal pageant would take 
place, I was told, on the day of the wedding, and the two-faced 
Captain Edmond Hardy, and the lovely, faithless Mary Deal 
were to sit in one of the golden chariots of the old English 
king, and the chariot that bore the wedding party would move 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. *35 

at the head of the street pageant and pass near my hiding place, 
where I could get a last look at the two-faced Edmond Hardy 
and the faithless Mary Deal. 

“ Any how it was allowed by my friends that on the night 
after the wedding and street pageant, that the whole loyal fra- 
ternity of soldiers and spies would be overcome with wine, and 
thus I would be able to elude the drunken sentinels, and to 
stow myself away among the old lumber in some vessel hailing 
from some strange land. And taking a few days’ provision with 
me into my hiding place, I would be able to live till the ship 
was far out at sea, and then I could come forth and ask forgiv- 
ness of the authorities of the ship and pay my fare. This plan 
being adopted as the most feasible, I patiently awaited coming 
events. 

“ The wedding came off as previously understood, and as 
foretold an immense street pageant was formed, at the head 
of which sat the gallant two-faced Captain Edmond Hardy and 
his lovely, faithless Mary Deal in the golden chariot of the old 
English king. I was some distance away looking on from my 
hiding place, and as the pageant moved off down the street I 
took the last sad look at the lovely, faithless Mary Deal as she 
sat by the side of the gallant two-faced Captain Edmond Hardy 
who had risen from his natural lot in the walks of the menials 
to the rank of Captain in the old king’s army for serving the 
old king so well in overthrowing my incipient republic.” 


CHAPTER XXX. 

Exploits of Jacob Jonah on Land. 

7HETHER the story of the broad-faced nomadian be 
' V true in fact or not, others are as capable of judging as 
myself. But I tell the story as it was told me by my uncle, 
Wild Jake of the Woods, Jacob Jonah, the overseer. And as 1 
have before observed, being young and of tender sensibilities, 
the story made a deep and lasting and unfading impression on 
me. And as to my own personal faith in the story now in my 
ripe age, I have only this much to observe that the following 
parts of the story that my uncle always told so well in a half 
dramatized way, are so barren and shorn of anything wild or ex- 
travagant, that I would acknowledge my lack of faith in all- the 
simple, plain, social conversations and fire-side stories of my 
friends, did I for once deny full credence or cast a shadow of 
doubt on the following unvarnished description of human ac- 
tion. The like of which, however romantic it may appear to 
those of dull prosaic minds, is quite insipid and common place 
to others as being such as is daily transpiring among those that 
venture to go abroad to see the world. 

But on with the story: 

“The night set for my exit from dear old Ireland,” said 
Timothy O’Mulloon, “ proved most favorable. It was dark, 
and the loyal shouts of ‘ Long live the king and Captain Ed- 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO . 


a 37 

mond Hardy and his fair bride sweet Mary Deal/ that filled the 
air all day long and far into the night, toward morning died 
away or subsided into course and brutal and guttural grunts, 
and once in a while a wild maniac cry that sounded more like 
the ravings of the mad than the shouts of loyalty. When the 
night was far spent and all was silent without, my friends came 
to me in my hiding place and told me that they had all ar- 
rangements made for my departure. They told me that the 
good ship Farewell would depart next morning for some of the 
American ports. They said they thought that I could be se- 
creted away so as not to be discovered by the authorities of the 
ship or the old king’s spies. But my friends said that they 
had thought of a new theory which they would submit to my 
will. So that I might chose the old way of stowing myself 
in the ship or adopt the new theory which they considered 
quite as practicable. 

“ So when I had thought a minute and my mind was pre- 
pared to receive the new theory, I told my friends to submit 
whatever they thought would be for my good, and I would 
afterwards advise them about it. So my friends told me that 
they had thought of shipping me to America as a hogshead of 
carrageen, or Irish moss. And they all agreed that if I were 
to be passed off on the authorities of the ship in any counterfeit 
way whatever that carrageen or Irish moss was the genuine arti- 
cle that I should be made to imitate. At first I did not take 
very well to the new theory, for it struck me as I then told my 
friends that in case I was detected as a counterfeit before the 
ship departed from the Cove of Cork, that I would be held on a 
criminal charge for the duplicity, and so discovered to the old 
English king. But my friends answered me again, and said 
that although in the face of conscience, I would as I claimed be 
found guilty of duplicity, they did not intend to be guilty of 
any very aggravated wrong in the matter, for they did intend to 
fill the hogshead with Irish moss indeed. But they would do 
so in this round about and ingenious way. They said that they 
would have me stand erect in the hogshead, while they would 


* 3 * 


PATRICK O' MONIGHAN, OR 


fill all around me me with the Irish moss, and have an air hole 
for me. And when everything was complete, they would put 
the hogshead on a cart and haul it down to the Cove, and see 
that I was carefully stowed away on shipboard, right end up. 

“ It may be proper here to observe that my friends preferred 
a hogshead to a box, on account of the convenience that it 
would aftord me in standing erect, as well as resting in a half 
sitting posture. . 

“ After some study and reflection, I agreed with my friends 
that I should be sent into exile as Irish moss. Although I am 
true to confess that it was a sore rub on my conscience to play 
the part of so much duplicity. For whatever I had been guilty 
of up to the time of my exile was included in the one indict- 
ment that charged me with sedition and rebellion. Transgres- 
sions which you must know, found their source in my ardent 
love of my country. 

“ Accordingly, I stood up in the hogshead while my friends 
packed the Irish moss about me. This was, I may add, out- 
side of the suburbs of the city of Cork. So when I was pre- 
pared to pass as a counterfeit, I was loaded on a cart and hauled 
to the Cove, where I was carefully stowed away in the good 
ship Farewell 

“ I was hauled to the ship at about four of the clock in the 
morning, and under the pretense that I had been hauled from a 
point many miles distant from the city of Cork. And as if 
Providence would have so ordered it, the good ship Fare- 
well hoisted full sail and set out to sea early the next morning. 

“ When the ship was far out at sea, I came forth from my 
hiding place by cutting away the head of my hogshead. I told 
quite a plausible story and of sufficient strength to obtain 
good will, for those that were interested seemed tranquil with 
peace of mind when I had paid my fare. It made me feel very 
cheerful, I assure you, when I saw how easily I had allayed all 
uneasiness. 

“ The good ship Farewell after touching at some of the 
ports in the West India islands, sailed on to a port in Mexico, 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 


239 


where her principal cargo of merchandise was discharged. 
Even when I was on the coast of Mexico, I did not feel myself 
secure from the clutches of the old king’s emissaries. The 
Spanish authorities, I thought, might in a catering, fawning 
way give me up to the old English king. So I was in constant 
fear, and soon made tracks toward the interior of Mexico. 
When I reached the interior of Mexico I was still uneasy, and 
found no rest till I was far in the wild interior of northern Mex- 
ico, and I may add in the part of Mexico that now forms the 
great State of Texas. There I settled down and rpsumed my 
profession of medicine. I was soon made aware that my* ability 
was much thought of and commended by my new Spanish 
friends. My educated character was soon discovered by the 
shrewd class that purchased my prescriptions, and I became 
very deeply interested in my profession, anti the wrongs that 
the old English king had inflicted on me, began to fall away 
from my mind. And although I was heartily devoted to old 
Ireland, I found a great deal to admire in the wild aspect of 
Mexico. I heard the same old cry for liberty in Mexico that I 
had heard in my native country. And no doubt I would have 
become one of the rebels in that country that were trying to 
throw off the power of Spain, had it not have been for a circum- 
stance that I am about to relate. 

“ There was a band of domestic Cheyenne Indians living in 
the circuit of my practice. One day an old Indian came to my 
house, and in broken English made his want^ known. He told 
me that his family had been afflicted for a long time, and were 
unable to find any relief from the medicine man of the band. 
The old Indian solicited a cure : from me, so I accompanied the 
old Indian to the place of the sick. It required but little skill 
to restore the old Indian’s family to vigorous health, which I 
soon accomplished. And in this way I became acquainted with 
the band of domestic Cheyenne Indian^, and was at once struck 
with their honesty and simplicWy, and above all I admired the 
unaffected beauty of a young maiden of the name of White 
Deer, whom I afterwards married, and thus found myself linked 


PATRICK O' MONJGHAN, OR 


into the tribe with all the privileges of an old member of the 
band. And thus without thinking or even caring for that mat- 
ter, I found that a great political and social change had come 
over me. For, from being a subject of the old king of England, 
I had transplanted myself within the vineyard of the king of 
Spain. And in my marriage with White Deer, I again trans- 
planted myself wholly without the pale of civilization, for I 
could be no longer considered a subject of English or Spanish 
royalty, but indeed a full red nomadian of the desert, for I put 
on their war paint, and was as near as I could be one of them. 
My medicine proved effective in eradicating the old distempers 
with which my new people were afflicted, and by this, my great- 
ness and power was measured, and I was ere long chosen as the 
Chief of the band, after I had been adopted under the name of 
Big Dog, and as the son of an old member of the band. And I 
have filled the rank of Chieftain of my band with pleasure, and 
honor, and profit to myself, and have won many favors and 
much admiration from many other nations that dwell in the 
wild desert. And with them, and among them, I have trium- 
phantly roamed .and flourished ever since A. D., 1798.” 


% 




chapter XXXI. 


Exploits of Jacob Jonah on Land. 

IMOTHY O’MULLOON, Big Dog, the broad faced no- 



l madian* of the desert, told Wild Jake cf the Woods that 
when the red nomadian band rolled the snowball down on his 
house in the ravine, and thereby captured him, Jhat the red no- 
madians wanted to take him captive to their own camp near at 
hand and roast him alive, and so have a good social time. But 
Big Dog interfered and his argument prevailed as he wanted — 
so he told the band, and so he was heartily inclined at that 
time— to carry Wild Jake of the Woods till the band arrived at 
the villages of their allies, the Sioux— the great Sioux tribe of 
the north— and thereby allow’the allies to enjoy the excitement 
and sport of the dance that would take place at the extermina- 
tion of Wild Jake. Big Dog said that he had grown to hate 
the white race on account of its kings and the sham cloaks of 
royalty and power, that tyrants wore. And that he had grown 
to admire the simple and honest manners and customs of the 
red nomadian children of the desert. But on the journey Big 
Dog said — among the other reasons for interceding in behalf of 
the captive— that he had changed his mind in regard to the 
treatment of the captive, owing in part to a peculiar spiritual 
vision or dream that he had dreamed, which left a deep impres- 
sion on his mind, and that he afterwards appealed to the band 


242 


PATRICK O' MONIGHAN, OR 


in behalf of Wild Jake of the Woods, under the sole plea that 
Wild Jake was of his old band in dear old Ireland, but that 
his dream that appeared so clearly to foreshadow coming events 
was a mofet potent auxiliary in behalf of Wild Jake. And so on 
as given above at various time and places, Big Dog told Wild 
Jake of the Woods for what causes and with what intentions he 
had become mediator. 

My uncle, Jacob Jonah, Wild Jake of the Woods used to re- 
cite Big Dog’s dream with charming effect, and in the language 
of Big Dog, the first speaker. And I will narrate the story as I 
heard it. 

“ My mind,” said Big Dog, “ gave birth to a vision, and in 
that vision I saw myself adorned and draped from head to heels 
in the most exquisite plumage of a chieftain, and at the head of 
one million red nomadian braves, making a descent on the 
frontier of Canada, and, casting my eye down the lines of my 
invincible host, I saw you, Wild Jake of the Woods, plumed in 
snowy angelic wings in command of my allies, the Sioux. The 
English host appeared before us to give battle, lead by the two- 
faced Edmond Hardy, And in the dim distance there sat the 
old English king in his golden chariot in royal state, surround- 
ed with his royal brood and offspring. At the sight of -the vil- 
lainous two-faced Edmond Hardy, I grew enraged and urged 
my steed to the onset and charge. And charging on the lines 
of the English king, the English soldiers became paralyzed with 
fear seeing the venturous feat that was being enacted by me. 
And so the old English king’s soldiers could not raise an arm 
to fire in defense of the two-faced Edmond Hardy and the old 
English king. 

“The treacherous two-faced Edmond Hardy meeting my 
enraged frown, saw that I was the exiled Timothy O’Mulloon, 
so he turned to fly ; but before he had time to quicken the 
speed of his horse, I with the agility that came of my long suf- 
fering, threw my tomahawk with such true aim and deadly effect 
that the two-faced Edmond Hardy fell bleeding and dying 
from his horse, and when I came up he was powerless and soon 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 


243 


expired, and stooping down I scalped my two-faced foe in the 
very presence of his royal master, the old English king. Where- 
upon the old English king, seeing the fate of his general, and 
his army all stricken with fear reversed his golden chariot and 
sought protection in flight. But as quick as thought, you, Wild 
Jake of the Woods, arrayed in angelic plumes, swooped down 
on the golden chariot of the old English king and his royal 
brood, and scalped the old English king. The old English 
king’s army, recovering from the paralyzing scene of butchery, 
ran away in disorderly flight, and left you and me in possession 
of the kingdom. 

“ So, my dear Wild Jake of the Woods, when my mind 
gave birth to this startling vision, it renewed my old ambition 
To overthrow the powers of the old English king. And 
the proper interpretation of my dream, fairly and plainly 
pointed out that you should be my best right-hand man in the 
future great war that I am about to wage against the old Eng- 
lish king. So I have simply set about procuring the liberty of 
my future General.” 



» 


X 


f 


CHAPTER XXXII. 


Exploits of Jacob Jonah on Land. 


IMOTHY O’MULLOON, Big Dog, the broad faced no- 



JL madian, was cunning and wily in his diplomatic dealings 
with the red children of the desert. And he knew full well 
that his supposed future general, Wild Jake of the Woods, 
would have to be adopted as a member of the band before the 
band reached the villages of the allies, the Sioux, or the Sioux 
would urge the propriety of having a war dance at the expense 
of Wild Jake’s life. Big Dog knew that could the captive. 
Wild Jake, appear among the Sioux as an adopted son of the 
band, that the Sioux would extend a friendly hand to his sup- 
posed future general, Wild Jake. 

And thus it came to pass in a few days after Big Dog had 
shown his first kindness, that he told Wild Jake that the band 
was prepared to adopt him as one of themselves, and seeing, 
as I suppose, that Wild Jake possessed considerable attain- 
ments, he told Wild Jake to prepare to make a speech in which 
he should set forth at some length his loyalty and good faith 
toward the band. 

Accordingly the whole band met next day in council of the 
whole, to hear Wild Jake’s speech as well as to act on his adop- 
tion. Big Dog was as an auxiliary of invaluable worth in as- 
sisting Wild Jake in his oratorial effort, as Big Dog furnished 


245 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 

Wild Jake with many important notes. At the appointed time, 
Wild Jake arose in council of the whole band and commenced 
his oration which Big Dog interpreted and delivered to the 
band word for word and letter for letter. I will give below a 
short extract of that famous speech which was as follows : 

“ Me like Cheyenne brave heap much. Me make good 
Cheyenne Indian like Big Dog. Me steal horses from pale 
faces. Me hunt much for Indian brave. Me make Indian 
brave’s fire. Me build Indian brave’s wigwam. Me stand guard 
over Indian brave while he sleepee. Me carry Indian brave’s 
carpet bagee when he on trampee.” 

And so on to quite an extent in words and sentiments of the 
above telling effect. In fact, I would insert the oration entire, 
did I not think that this extract would be sufficient to show all 
intelligent minds the tenor and force of Wild Jake’s oration. 

Anyhow, such was the feeling created by the oration that it 
seemed to Wild Jake that every Indian breast was moved and 
heaved with excited emotion and admiration for the orator. 
And to use an old time-worn, but expressive sentence, “ There 
was not a dry' eye in the house.” 

It did seem that the speech had indeed settled even the 
very least vestige of opposition to the adoption. And when 
Wild Jake had closed his oration, he calmly surveyed the coun- 
cil of the whole and then took his seat, and looking back 
toward the slim end of the audience he could see some of the 
young women of the band wipe away tears of joy and affection. 

But right in the midst of his tranquility and peace of mind, 
and when he was feeling happy over the good and cheerful re- 
sults of his oratory, an old wrinkled nomadian arose and moved 
that the applicant for Cheyenne honors should be tried on his 
capacity to utter the “ war-whoop.” 

The capacity to utter this singular cry is thought to be very 
essential to a Cheyenne Indian’s education. And the first 
sound, perhaps, that the Cheyenne baby is able to recognize 
after coming into the world, is the affectionate mother’s gentle 
“ war-whoop,” as she lulls her tender offspring to repose. 


246 


Patrick o'monighan. Or 


This great essential, the “war-whoop,” had been entirely 
overlooked till the old wrinkled nomadian thought of it. But 
the wise men and younger warriors gave each other strange 
looks when the old nomadian suggested the great essential, and 
then for an instant hung their heads in confusion at their own 
ignorance, and uttered their customary interjection, “ugh.” 
Could it be possible that they had overlooked so important a 
matter till the very last moment. 

Big Dog, the broad faced nomadian, now arose and said, 
“ I think it will be entirely proper and in order, to give the 
young man that we are about to adopt time to prepare for the 
effort.” 

All the band that were met in council of the whole, agreed 
that Wild Jake should be given all the next day to practice on 
the “ war-whoop,” that he might be prepared for examination 
on the evening following. 

The next morning the accomplished Big Dog accompanied 
Wild Jake down the river till they found a suitable ravine, and 
there Wild Jake of the Woods took his first lesson. 

His first effort almost disheartened his preceptor, Big Dog, 
who grew excited and irritated, and gave his pupil a prod in the 
ribs with an arrow that made him wince. However, after many 
efforts and failures, Wild Jake began to improve wonderfully in 
the Cheyenne accomplishment, and as the day wore on to a 
close, he could make a fair effort considering his neglected 
youth and lost opportunities. 

Big Dog himself grew hopeful of his future general, as he 
supposed, and began to strengthen the will of his pupil by ex- 
agerating the perfection of his efforts. 

About nightfall, Big Dog started up the valley to camp with 
his pupil. The pupil uttering the necessary “ war-whoop ” at 
every breath as he approached the council house, in which his 
eligibility to tribal relations was to be determined. 

As the pupil came up the valley to camp practicing at the 
top of his voice, every nomadian in camp was on tip-toe taking 
note of the pupil’s articulation, and whispering to each other 


The hidden treasure of old uzarro. 


247 


their criticisms and opinions of the pupil’s ability to pass the 
requisite examination. 

But as Wild Jake neared camp, it did seem that the gift of 
articulation was most miraculously imparted in both strength of 
voice and articulation. His delivery too, was clear without 
decrepitude of power. So that by the time that he reached 
camp, he whooped to perfection and every red nomadian’s 
voice sounded in his praise. 

And just when Wild Jake and his master, Big Dog, reached 
camp, they were greeted with one vociferous and prolonged 
war-whoop that issued forth from the throats of every red 110- 
madian in camp, and Wild Jake was adopted by acclamation 
into the band as the son of Big Dog under the name of Wild 
Horse. 


CHAPTER XXXIII. 


Exploits of Jacob Jonah on Land. 

W ILD HORSE, Wild Jake of the Woods, my uncle, Jacob 
Jonah, the overseer, was now a full member of the band 
of red faced nomadians and accordingly painted his face after 
the time-honored custom of the wild children of the desert, 
which was a streak of red and a streak of green. Wild Horse’s 
traps and pistols were returned to him, also his memorial hunt- 
ing knife on which was inscribed, “ Wild Jake of the Woods,” 
and the same, as I have observed, that I carried on my person 
when I was so suddenly shipwrecked on the Mississippi river. 

Now the band took up its march toward the villages of the 
allies, the Sioux, leisurly hunting and fishing along the sylvan 
streams which afforded vast numbers of the best flavored species 
of the finny tribes. 

Such was the talent, too, of Wild Horse to acquire the no- 
madian language, that by strict attention to the instruction of 
his preceptor, Big Dog, he was soon able to deliver an oration 
on the theme of his independence, and escape from the thrall- 
dom of his own race, having been, as you observe, but a few 
months with the band, and he could converse intelligibly on all 
subjects that employed the Cheyenne tongue. 

On the march northward, Wild Horse was the constant com- 
panion of Big Dog, who began to lay deep and well-matured 

• 248 


tHE HIDDEN TEE AS DEE OF OLD UZAEEO. 249 

plans for war against the empire and powers of the old English 
king. His pet scheme and the one, too, most likely to bear 
good fruit was to pass by a circuitous route beyond the great 
lakes of the north, and thus by marching around the great lakes 
— even beyond lake Superior, if I remember correctly, he would 
meet with no obsructing pale -faces. And from the northern 
extremity of the great lakes, he would swoop down at the head 
of his allied host, and force the old English king to fight in 
protection of his frontier or abandon his dominion in America. 

Now it came to pass in the ordinary course of these remark- 
able events that I am here narrating, that this band in which 
Wild Horse was adopted was a band of select families that pass- 
ed much of their time in the solubrious climate of the South 
about the head waters of the Red and Rio Grande rivers, and 
the time before when Big Dog’s band was north, he was visited 
and accompanied to the South by an intelligent and beautiful 
virgin maiden of the name of Red Bud. 

The beautiful Red Bud was of the Crow nation, and the 
daughter of the celebrated chieftain Sour Heels. She had vis- 
ited Big Dog’s band out of social feeling, and had accompanied 
the band south to see the beautiful and inspiring scenery that 
is always so animating in winter to one that has been reared 
and lived through life amid the cold and voiceless winters of 
the north. 

The affectionate ai*d beautiful Red Bud was touched with 
the gallant character as well as with the fine physical form of 
person, and style of features that Wild Horse bore. Red Bub 
at first but admired the newly adopted son, Wild Horse. Soon 
she loved. 

When Wild Horse saw this temptation, he gave way to sobs 
and tears as he thought of her he so dearly loved, his sweet 
Deborah Day, far away in the Arkansas Territory. Yes, his 
sweet Deborah Day was growing greener in his memory and 
dearer to his heart. 

Wild Horse told Big Dog of the temptation that the Crow 
maiden, Red Bud, was to him. 


* 


250 PATICK O’ MONIGHAN, OR 

“ Ah,” said Big Dog, “it was I that encouraged Red Bud 
to cultivate the affections of your heart, and I have sincerely 
hoped that you would requite her love.” 

But Wild Horse was still obstinate, and answered Big Dog, 
saying, “No, no; I have left a sweet girl behind me of the 
name of Deborah Day. She will be repining and longing to 
see me return from Mexico, bearing a sufficiency of Prince 
Martino’s gold.” 

But Big Dog was not to be thus nonplussed. He would not 
yield to the affections of Deborah Day, and a few days removed 
the guise from the future hopes of his heart, and made it appear 
that it would be to the political and military advantage of 
Wild Horse to recognize and requite the amororous glances of 
Red Bud. And one day taking Wild Horse away some dis- 
tance from camp, he delivered an exortation of the following 
tenor : 

“It is in order,” said he, “to crown my plans of future 
war against the old English king, that I encourage a matrimo- 
nial alliance between you and Red Bud. It is necessary for me 
to form an alliance with all the powerful red nations of the 
North. And the Crow nation, although not engaged in any 
immediate war with my people, the Cheyennes and allied Sioux, 
yet we are not on the amiable relations that my heart desires.. 
So,” continued Big Dog with much annimation, “I have ad- 
vised you for military and political reasons alone to marry Red 
Bud, scion of the royal Sour Heels. You are now my first- 
best man. Marry Red Bud, the Crow virgin, and you shall 
stand next to me in both diplomacy and war. Marry Red Bud 
and promote my war against the old English king. Marry Red 
Bud and I will empower you to go to the court of the Crow 
Chieftain, Sour Heels, and get his government to furnish me 
with twenty thousand warriors to march against the old English 
king.” 


CHAPTER XXXIV. 


Exploits of Jacob Jonah on Land. 

HUS did the broad-faced nomadian chieftain, Big Dog, 



-L in his cunning and subtile way hold out one inducement 
after another, until the mind of my uncle, Wild Horse was in- 
flamed with ambitious motives, and military and political bau- 
bles of huge size went floating all through his brain. 

And so complete and overwhelming did his thirst for glory 
through diplomacy and war become, that it hardened his heart,, 
and his love for his dear Deborah Day withered and faded away 
from his heart. 

For he now turned away from his golden prospects in the 
mines of Mexico, in the country down below Santa F6, some- 
where on the Rio Grande river, and set his ambitious heart on 
Red Bud the royal heir of Sour Heels, and the fame and po- 
litical throne to which she was to lead. 

And of pleasant June evenings he might be seen sitting coo- 
ing by her side on a log putting the fishing bait on her hook, 
or gently warbling some old love song of former days. 

About the first of May, Big Dog’s band reached the Sioux 
villages, which were most beautifully located near the Niobrara, 
one of the tributaries of the Missouri river. 

Upon reaching the villages of the friendly Sioux, Big Dog 
at once put his ambitious and warlike schemes in motion. He 


4 S a PATRICK O' MO A IG HAN, OR 

most heartily desired to interest all the neighboring wild no- 
madian nations of the north in his future war against the old 
English king. 

The most powerful of all the wild nomadian tribes was the 
nation of Crows. An alliance with that powerful nation was a 
guarantee of success. 

With his Cheyennes, Crows and Sioux, Big Dog hoped to 
make the smaller nations join his confederacy against the old 
English king. 

The time drew near when Red Bud would be returned to 
her father, Sour Heels, who lived in a Crow village near the 
Yellow Stone river, full five hundred miles away. Red Bud had 
been a social visitor in the band of Big Dog for about one year, 
and she must now be returned according to the promise that 
Big Dog had made Sour Heels, her father. 

Big Dog flattered himself that he had secured a diplomat in 
the person of Wild Horse, my uncle, that would lead to ai 
alliance with Sour Heels and his powerful nation. And sure 
enough he had had the betrothal of my uncle, Wild Horse, and 
Red Bud been confirmed by Sour Heels and his wife, White 
Bear. But it did not turn out so. 

So when Big Dog had all his schemes mature, a party was 
organized of the best disciplined Sioux and Cheyennes to ac- 
company as an escort to the spiritual Red Bud and Wild Horse. 

Wild Horse, my uncle, was adorned to the best advantage 
with the rich ornaments of Big Dog. He was the special dip- 
lomat of Big Dog, and was endowed with full power to make 
whatever arrangements he saw fit in regard to the future wars 
that Big Dog had projected against the old English king. 

After the arrival of Red Bud and Wild Horse and their es- 
cort at the home of old Sour Heels, and after the usual courte- 
sies and ceremonies due matters of so much importance, Wild 
Horse, my uncle, proceeded to ask the old man, Sour Heels, 
for the hand of his daughter, Red Bud, expecting that the old 
man would answer in the smiling affirmative, and thus, the 
choice of the daughter would be equally as acceptable to the 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 253 

old man as to the daughter, as she was a girl of more than aver- 
age sense and refinement. 

But old Sour Heels proceeded to answer my uncle, Wild 
Horse, in a way that cooled his ardor for a time. 

It may be well to observe that Wild Horse put his diplomat- 
ic business in regard to the future wars of Big Dog in the back- 
ground, till he had settled his own private affair in regard to 
Red Bud. 

As Red Bud was of uppermost interest in his mind, he 
thought best to clear his mind of his love affairs, and then he 
could give his mind full scope to the diplomacy of Big Dog’s 
affairs. 

So when old Sour Heels was approached by Wild Horse, my 
uncle, for the hand of his daughter, Red Bud, the old man 
asked time to consult with his wife, White Bear, and the next 
day he would make answer. 

Accordingly, at the appointed time, Wild Horse returned 
to get the answer of old Sour Heels, who proceeded to say 
through an interpreter, that Red Bud had been betrothed by her 
mother to a hunter of the Black Feet nation, of the name of 
Mad Bull, who would arrive the following day with a half dozen 
ponies to give as a present to Red Bud’s mother, White Bear. 

This answer, as you well know, was very mortifying to Wild 
Horse, my uncle. To have his happiness and his goal of future 
greatness thus demolished by the breath of Red Bud’s parents 
was very humiliating. But Wild Horse would not be outdone 
so easily by the Black Feet hunter, Mad Bull, and determined 
to consult Red Bud about the matter. 

When Red Bud was informed by her lover, Wild Horse, of 
the kind of disposition that White Bear, her mother, had made 
of her, she was deeply moved, and sat down on a log beside 
Wild Horse and wept bitterly. . 

But with all her tenderness and giving way to tears, she was 
adroit and subtile and told Wild Horse that she would not sub- 
mit to the choice of her mother, White Bear. 

As Mad Bull would arrive the next day, whatever could be 


PATRICK O'MONIGHAN, OR 


254 

done should be quietly done. So that very day an elopement 
was planned in this way. Wild Horse went off apparently on 
a hunting expedition. But in fact he had gone some miles 
away from the village of Crows, and hid, having two ponies 
secreted near at hand. 

The next day Mad Bull arrived in camp with his ponies, 
with which he had, as he thought, secured the hand of Red Bud. 





CHAPTER XXXV. 

Exploits of Jacob Jonah on Land. 

W HEN Mad Bull arrived, Red Bud professed to be well 
satisfied with the choice of her parents, and received 
Mad Bull with open arms, and with all the sham love and grace 
of women called him, “ My dear Mad Bull.” The sacred rites 
of matrimony were performed, and feast and carousal followed, 
till both day and night were well nigh worn away. 

Then Mad Bull, becoming tired and exhausted, retired to 
the bridal chamber to await the coming of his sweet Red Bud. 
But Red Bud feigned some cause for delay, and immediately 
ran off under cover of the night, and joined Wild Horse at his 
appointed hiding place, not far away. The two lovers then 
hastened to their horses and fled. 

Mad Bull, on retiring to the marriage bed, soon fell into a 
sound slumber, and his dear Red Bud was not missed at his 
side, till be awoke in the morning about the dawn of day. Upon 
waking he sought his fair bride by his side, then in camp. But 
she was nowhere to be found. And what could be the cause 
of her absence, was the mystery and wondering query of all. 

But when old Sour Heels had heard of the myserious disap- 
pearance of his daughter, Red Bud, he divined the cause, and 
that she had eloped with my uncle, Wild Horse. Mad Bull, 

now boiled with rage and called for volunteers to pursue and 

*55 


PATRICK O' MONIGHAN, OR 


256 

recover his abducted wife, and soon a party of twenty of the 
best and bravest of the Black Feet and Crows were in hot pur- 
suit of the trail. 

Now it would appear that Red Bud and Wild Horse had 
spent much precious time in trying to get off in such a way that 
no trail would be left behind to tell of the course that they had 
taken. 

The runaways had hoped that the pursuing Black F eet and 
Crows would follow the old trail back to the Sioux and Chey- 
enne villages. But their hopes were ill-founded, for the pur- 
suers found the trail of the runaways after some search and pur- 
sued at break-neck speed. 

Red Bud and Wild Horse were mounted on fleet ponies and 
might easily have escaped had Wild Horse been as well ac- 
quainted with the country a& his pursuers were. 

Wild Horse took a course leading in an easterly direction 
from the camp of the Crows and Black Feet, and expected to 
make a circuitous route and thus reach Big Dog’s village. 

Red Bud and Wild Horse rode all the next day after their 
elopement without much fear of being overtaken. But on the 
second evening after their departure, their ponies having be- 
come jaded, and having come to a cavern in a mountain side 
that would afford good shelter as a hiding place, they dis- 
mounted, tethered their horses out to grass, and then sought 
shelter in the mountain cavern. 

About twelve of the clock at night, Wild Horse heard one 
of their ponies whinny two or three times, and, thinking that 
its mate might have got loose and taken the back track, he got 
up and went to see what was the cause of disturbance. 

Wild Horse had got within a few paces of the whinnying 
pony when he was greeted with a Shower of arrows which pierc- 
ed his clothing as well as his skin in various places. 

' However, he was not disabled, and fled with much precipi- 
tation and alarm to the hiding place of his dear Red Bud, for 
old Sour Heels and Mad Bull were close on his heels. 

It would seem that old Sour Heels and Mad Bull had crept 


257 


7Y/£ HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 

along under cover of darkness on the runaways, and, in fact, 
ecu Id not have been far in the rear at nightfall. And finding 
the horses they had untied one and taking it away some dis- 
tance, so that its mate would ‘whinny and cause Wild Horse to 
come from his hiding place to see after his ponies. 

Red Bud heard the racket when Wild Horse was attacked. 
For she could distinguish the familiar war-whoop of her dear 
old father, Sour Heels. And receiving tin's timely warning, she 
proceeded to crawl as tar as possible into the cavern. Wild 
Horse soon followed her into the darkest recess of the cave. 

Now it would seem that old Sour Heels and Mad Bull had 
won the da}\ I hey had the runaway lovers cornered in a cave 
where no ray of hope could possibly reach them, and the best 
that they could do would be to come forth and meet judgment, 
and receive such barbarous treatment as old Sour Heels and 
Mad Bull would feel like inflicting. 

Of course Sour Heels and Mad Bull saw, as they supposed, 
victory within easy reach. So they built a camp fire near the 
mouth of the cave, and settled down to a protracted siege, 
which was simply to await the peaceful surrender of Wild Horse 
and Red Bud. 

But the lovers had no thought of surrender. They embraced 
each other, and as their tears mingled and fell among the rocks, 
they resolved and vowed to die side by side. 

All night through, as the lovers cowered in their lonesome 
nook in the cave, they could hear the besiegers singing their, 
war songs and dancing around their camp-fire, and manifesting 
all the happy emotions of victors. 

When day dawned and light came, the lover; were hid -away 
out of the reach of the penetrating arrows of old S r.ir Heels a id 
Mad Bull. 

Wild Horse was well armed and ha 1 provision on u'. o 
keep his dear Red Bid alive for several da\s. S > W.id II 
did not have much to fear from his enemies as long as he coul 1 
remain inside of the cave. 

When it was clear daylight, old Sour Heels, seeing victory 

17 



*58 


PATRICK O' M ONI GHAN, OR 


within his easy demands, as he thought, came to the mouth of 
the cave, and calling to his daughter, Red Bud, demanded an 
unconditional surrender. “ Give up, give up ! and come forth 
from that pit of darkness, my fallen daughter, Red Bud. You 
have broken the heart of your aged father/’ were the impera- 
tive tones of the chieftain, Sour Heels, when he thought that 
the terms of surrender were all to his own liking. 

When Red Bud heard the commanding voice of old Sour 
Heels as it resounded along the recesses of the cave, she com- 
menced a parley with her enraged father and said at last, “ I 
will not surrender to you, dear father, unless Wild Horse and 
myself are preserved from all harm.” 

Old Sour Heels, hearing what he considered the disobedient 
answer of his daughter, rose to his feet at the mouth of the cave 
and gave expression to his disappointment and grief by uttering 
some of the most agonizing howls of vexation and anger that 
the human ear ever witnessed. 

At the same time old Sour Heels mortified his flesh by stab- 
bing himself in the breast till the blood ran freely in streams. 

Now the besiegers changed their mode of warfare. They 
commenced to shoot fiery poisoned arrows into the cave. 

The arrows were charged with some poisonous, sulphureous 
substance, and soon caused a very unhealthy and suffocating 
odor to penetrate every recess in the cave. 

Wild Horse stood this poisoned arrow warfare as long as it 
was tolerable, as he had determined from the beginning, if pos- 
sible, not to assume any position that would indicate the offen- 
sive nor do anything that would exasperate old Sour Heels and 
Mad Bull. 

The only hope of Wild Horse was to protract the siege till 
time would afford him an opportunity to escape. So he had de- 
termined to adopt no mode of warfare, but what appeared to him 
as cunning and smooth. 

But Wild Horse soon noticed that the fumes from the sul- 
phureous poisoned arrows were having a worse effect upon the 
dear Red Bud thap on himself, fn fact, when he turned his 


the hidden treasure of old uzarro. * 59 

eye from the mouth of the cave, she appeared to swoon and 
creel over and heave from her stomach. 

This was beyond all endurance. Wild Horse raised his head 
up from the dark vault of rocks; and looked out toward the 
mouth of the cave. And pretty soon old Sour Heels came to 
the mouth of the cave with a flaming, poisoned, sulphureous 
arrow drawn to the head on his bow, and was about to shoot. 

Wild Horte leveled his pistol on the ledge of rocks in front 
of him, and taking deliberate aim, fired. 

Old Sour Heels gave a deathly groan, pitched headlong into 
the cave and instantly expired. 


CHAPTER XXXVI. 


Exploits of Jacob Jonah on Land. 

O LD Sour Heels’ friends came to his untimely rescue and 
dragged him away from the cave by the heels. But poor 
old Sour Heels was dead, The besiegers now abandoned their 
poisoned arrow warfare, and built an immense heap of dry logs 
in the mouth of the cave, and set them on fire, hoping thereby 
to smoke Wild Horse and Red Bud to terms of surrender. 

When the fire got under good headway, Wild Horse and 
Red Bud made all kinds of suffocating noises and cries that 
would betoken intense suffering. 

They did this of course- as a feint, so that the besiegers 
would think that they would be quite dead after the heap would 
be burnt down. Whilst at the same time the fire did no harm 
at all, more than dry out the cave and drive away the unhealthy 
odor left after the poisoned, sulphureous arrows. 

When the heap was burned down and the besiegers had re- 
moved the embers, they stood around the mouth of the cave and 
spoke very hopefully of the successful results from the fire, and 
thought that Wild Horse and Red Bud were suffocated to death 
Still they were suspicious that danger lurked within. For it 
was evident that no one wa£ anxious to crawl in and thus invade 
the Cave to look for the charred remains of Wild Horse and 
Red Bud. 


260 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. a6i 

Finally, the besiegers concluded that they would excite a 
pack of curs that they had in camp, and get the excited dogs 
to enter the cave, thinking that should the curs find the dead 
bodies of Wild Horse and Red Bud, they would bring out some 
tokens of the dead, or make such demonstration within as would 
cast sufficient light on the mystery of the cave. 

Accordingly, the pack of curs was called to the mouth of 
the cave, and, after the most intense shouting, and seeking, and 
urging, the curs were urged to enter the cave. 

The curs came into the cave pell-mell, barking and tumbling 
over each other in frightful confusion. 

Now it so happened that Wild Horse had a goo'd-sized wolf 
trap secure about his person when he entered the cave. — For, 
mind you, he was weh provided with the means to make a liv- 
ing for his dear Red Bud when he eloped with her from the 
paternal tent. 

So the evening before, to provide against surprise, soon after 
he entered the cave he had set the trap, so that it would nab 
any prowler that might come to attack or annoy. 

So the curs came barking and yelling along, and the be- 
siegers out at the mouth of the cave kept up a yelling and a 
whooping, so as to animate and encourage the dogs as they pen- 
etrated the dark vaults of the cave. 

Finally the curs came to the wolf trap, and it caught two of 
them at one snap. 

Then the most unearthly yells were set up by the entrapped 
curs. The curs that were caught by the feet in the trap, set to 
fighting ; whereupon the whole pack fell into a most desperate 
conflict, and in a few minutes the two curs that were fast in the 
trap, were bleached out quite dead. 

The besiegers on the outside were much amazed, and did 
not know what to make of the conflict inside among the curs. 
But when the surviving curs went out of the cave, they continu- 
ed to snarl and snap at each other in such a manner that it was 
plainly indicated that the curs had had a battle among them- 
selves. 


PATRICK O' MO NIG HAN, OR 


262 

But what caused the curs to fight? That was the query. 
And as two of the curs remained within, what did that mean ? 
But after sober reflection, the Crows and Black Feet came to 
the conclusion that the curs upon reaching the dead bodies of 
Wild Horse and Red Bud, fell to fighting about their disputed 
rights to the remains of the dead. 

And it was quite reasonably supposed that the two dogs that 
remained within were feasting on the dead, having mastered the 
situation and driven the other dogs away. 

All this time Mad Bull was outside burning with anxiety and 
suspense. He was already bereaved of his first friend, Sour 
Heels, and he would now and then give vent to his mournful 
feelings in the sad “ Yah-00 ! Yahoo! Yah-oo!” so peculiar 
to the Black Feet' tribe. 

Although Red Bud had proven false to him, and her dear 
old father that had lost his life trying to save her from dishonor 
lay dead, pierced with a bail sent by the hand of Wild Horse. 
Yet the sad thought that her delicate form was being devoured 
by dogs, caused Mad Bull to shed sympathetic tears and to 
moan piteously over the fate of her he loved. 

Mad Bull could stand the suspense no longer, and proceeded 
co explore the cave and 'save the remains of his dear one from 
total annihilation by the hungry curs that yet remained within. 
So he crept cautiously along through the cave peering here 
and there into the dark caverns and recesses as he crept along. 

It was intensely dark in the cave- to one coming in from the 
mouth. Yet, as Mad Bull crawled on, he could see a few feet 
before him, which was all-sufficient to see the remains of the 
dead Red Bud. 

Wild Horse had carefully removed the trap and dead curs 
out of' the way and was now watching” Mad Bull very closely as 
he crept slowly along on his hands and knees. 

Wild Horse and Red Bud were snugly hidden away behind 
a ledge of rock so that Mad Bull could not see them till he 
would pass their hiding place. Then by looking around he 
might discover them. So Mad Bull came creeping slowly along 


THE HIDDEN TEE AS URE OF OLD UZARRO. 263 

sniffing the air and peering sharply into the dark vaults of the 
cave. 

And now his head was already even with the abrupt ledge 
of rock that protected Wild Horse and Red Bud. 

Wild Horse grasped his Arkansas hunting knife and watched 
the movements of his enemy with intense interest, and just as 
Mad Bull had pushed his head past the ledge of rock, Wild 
Horse seized him by his immense top-knot of hair with his 
left hand and pulled his head over the edge of the rock 
and with one stroke of his Arkansas hunting knife, he severed 
Mad Bull’s jugular. 

Mad Bull expired without giving any alarm to the besiegers 
outside. ^ 


CBIAPTER XXXVII. 


Exploits of Jacob Jonah on Land. 

A S night came on an ominous stillness reigned without. 

And as Wild Horse, Wild Jake of the Woods, my uncle, 
Jacob Jonah, the overseer, was trying, to solve the difficulties 
that he had on hand, he heard a rumbling sound that seemed 
to proceed from a quarter further back in the cave. 

Till now, Wild Horse had supposed that he had reached the 
full extent of the cave, and he would think to himself, “ What 
can that rumbling, ominous noise mean?” 

Soon he could hear something that sounded like the breath- 
ing of some large animal as if sniffing the air as it came on 
toward his hiding place, > For the animated noise continued to 
approach him. 

Wild Horse and his dear Red Bud fairly flattened thenv 
selves out in the crevice of the rocks that sheltered them. 

Soon Wild Horse heard something tugging at the dead body 
of Mad Bull. He peered over the rocks and could undoubtedly 
hear some hnirnal tugging at the corpse of Mad Bull. 

Wild Horse cautiously reached out his hand, and between 
his thumb and finger, he felt of what to his practiced fingers 
was surely the heavy coat of a monster grizzly bear. And 
Wild Horse was now satisfied about the cause of all 'the mys- 
terious noise. 


264 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 265 

“ Ah ! old grizzly,” thought Wild Horse, “ if you will only 
make out a meal on the dead Mad Bull and pass along on your 
way, I will be content.” 

But it seemed that the old grizzly bear had spent some time 
in making an examination of the dead Mad Bull that she found 
in her path. But after awhile she seemed satisfied, and with a 
powerful craunch she closed her jaws on the dead body of Mad 
Bull, and proceeded to drag it to the very mouth of the cave 
where all the besiegers were stationed. 

The besiegers were not taken by surprise, for they heard the 
old bear snorting and tugging along with her load. She wanted 
to get out in the open air before she would sit down to take 
her meal. 

The Crows and Black Feet did not know what to make of 
the proceedings that were going on inside of the cave. They 
stared and stood agast as the old bear neared the mouth of the 
cave. Presently she emerged, tugging and snorting with her 
load. The 'Crows and Black Feet waited till she got fairly out 
of the cave, for they could scarcely believe their eyes and ears. 
And not till the old grizzly was out on open ground could they 
comprehend the facts and see that it was the dead Mad Bull 
that the old grizzly had in charge. Then they let loose a show- 
er of arrows and missiles on the old grizzly and charged up with 
their tomahawks, and dispatched her, and released the dead 
Mad Bull from her jaws. 

Now they set up their mournful “Yah-oo,” over the dead 
body of Mad Bull. 

During this time Wild Horse was inside playing all thp parts 
of his own programme, and of course he began to reflect about 
the mystery as to where the old grizzly came from. 

“ There must be another mouth to the cave,” thought Wild 
Horse, “or else the old grizzly has been sleeping in her den, 
and has heard nothing of the battle.” 

For, it may be observed, that a grizzly after a hearty- meal, 
will remain in still repose for a day or two, even in summer time. 

“ She might, or she might not, have been waked by the dis- 


266 


PATRICK O' MO Ij I G HAN, OR 


turbers outside. If she was disturbed by the besiegers, and 
when she found all quiet she has gone out to see about matters. 
But now she is dead and in the hands of the Crows and 
Black Feet.” 

Such were the surmises that hurried through the mind of 
Wild Horse as he set about an investigation of matters. 

So Wild Horse arose from his hiding place and gathered up 
a handful of the poisoned arrows that the beseigers had shot in 
at him, and took out his flint and steel, and struck a fire, made 
a torch, and proceeded back in the direction from whence the 
old grizzly had come. 

“ But where did she come from? There is the end of the 
cave,” thought Wild Horse as he gazed at the forbidding rocks 
that jutted out before him. 

While thus engaged in trying to find ingress through the 
the mass of damp, mossy rocks that seemed to be the end of 
space, his foot slipped into a hole and he almost fell down in 
the dark abyss below. Then he examined the hole, and hold- 
ing his torch down in the hole, he discovered a stairway leading 
below. So perfect, too, was the stairway, that it was almost 
impossible for Wild Horse to believe that it had been formed 
by nature. 

“Through this hole the old grizzly has come,” thought 
Wild Horse as he gazed at the forbidding darkness below. He 
called Red Bud to his side. Red Bud knelt on her knees, and 
with mute astonishment gazed down the dark mysterious 
stairway. 

“What monsters may inhabit the unhallowed pit below,” 
whispered Wild Horse. 

At the thought of this the two lovers became terror-stricken 
for a spell as they realized their sad situation. 

“ The Crows and Black Feet,” whispered Wild Horse, “ are 
ready to slay us as soon as we emerge from the cave, and on the 
other hand the cave is full of ferocious beasts, perhaps ready 
to tear us to pieces the minute they are roused.” 

Thus the two lovers stood perplexed for some time, looking 
at each other as if asking, “ What shall we do ?” 


CHAPTER XXXVIII. 


Exploits of Jacob Jonah on Land. 

W HEN Wild Horse, proceeded to take a step downward 
to the dark unknown abyss, Red Bud seized him by the 
shoulder in restraint and exclaimed, “ My dear Wild Horse the 
minute you enter that i 'owed abyss of darkness, I shall be 
left without a protector.” 

Wild Horse allayed and soothed the fears of his dear one 
by pointing, out the extreme probabilities of making matters 
worse, and thus appeased the mind of his tender Red Bud. So 
handing Red Bud his torch, he took cautious steps down the 
narrow, uncertain stairway. 

When he was as far down as desirable, he put out his hand, 
and found that he was in open space. So he reached up and 
took his torch from the' trembling hand of Red Bud. 

When the fight of his torch reached the open cavern that he 
had reached, he immediately put his hand over his eyes to close 
out the dazzling reflections thrown back from walls of a thous- 
and hues. 

After peering through his fingers for some time, his eyes be- 
came familiar with the dazzling prospects that had so suddenly 
issued from darkness, and he began to look on the bewildering 
scenes about him. 

To say that he was surprised and wonder-struck at the rich 

867 


268 


PATRICK O' MONIGHAN, OR 


scenes that met his view, would be weak and inexpressive. So 
I take it that I can do no better than to give the exact words of 
Wild Horse, my uncle. 

“ Yonder,” said he, “I saw a wall of burnished gold, but 
on closer inspection it proved to be mica and dazzling stones 
that reflected back the light of my torch tenfold. There, again 
I saw a pillar studded with thousands of precious gems, and so 
rich was the gleam that went out therefrom, that I was com- 
pelled to turn my eyes to some duller prospect. I looked above 
at the ceiling, and there the richest of tasselled work met my 
view. For, up there I saw the most beautiful and natural stalac- 
tites, and how charming they were in their natural irregularity. 

I proceeded farther down the stairway, and casting my sight 
down toward the floor of the palace, I saw something that re- 
sembled bones — yes, bones — ah, human bones.— Now I pro- 
ceeded with more caution, and with suppressed breath. I 
stretched out my foot, and then I stood on the floor of the gold- 
en Palace, and holding my torch down at my feet and exam- 
ining closely, I discovered that I was standing on blackened and 
moss-covered bones. I raised my torch above my head and let 
the light extend with my sight out over the floor of the spa- 
cious palace which I saw extended full sixty feet in front, and 
twenty-five feet on either side; and the entire floor of the pal- 
ace, I soon discovered, was undoubtedly a compact mass of 
bones. And looking wherever I might, I could see nothing but 
bones, bones, bones. Yet, with quivering limbs, I proceeded 
on to invade the sacred Palace of\ Bones. Looking in a cell 
to my right, I was horrified to see a brazen, staring human coun- 
tenance, bereft of life and flesh. I saw those grinning, threat- 
ening teeth. I drew nearer to the unpleasant spectral scene, 
when lo! I began to realize the horrible human sacrifice in its 
broad extent. For, hundreds of grinning, human skulls were 
strewn promiscuously about on the floor of the capacious cell. 

I sat ’down in this beautiful Sepulchre of the Dead, and began 
to call upon my cool reflecting powers to reveal the mysteries 
of this Palace of the Dead. Ah, thought I, this Palace has, since 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD U7ARR0. 269 

time was, been inhabited by wild and ferocious beasts. Near 
by, some time remote, an awful battle was fought, and the field 
left strewn with the slain, and the carniverous beasts that inhab- 
ited this Palace went upon the field after the battle, and carried 
the dead to this, their palatial den. Thus I reflected. But 
hark! I heard a sound that disturbed the ominous stillness of 
the dead. I arose and took a few steps in the direction from 
whence the sounds proceeded. Now, I heard deep and sonorous 
breathing as I cautiously moved along, and when I got opposite 
the door in front of a cell, I saw two bear cubs. I unsheathed 
my Arkansas hunting knife, and stealthily I approached the lair 
of my sleeping victims. Now I planted one knee on the floor 
near the unconscious innocents. Now the dazzling blade made 
two glimmering flashes over my head as it descended on the un- 
conscious cubs, and both were dead.” 

During, all this time, whilst Wild Horse was exploring the 
Palace of the Dead, Red Bud was sitting up at the head of the 
stairway, surrounded with the most soul-suppressing darkness, 
and when she heard the thrusts of Wild Horse’s knife as he 
slew the unconscious cub bears, her nerves gave way, thinking 
that some murderous tragedy was being enacted below, and with 
a heart-rending seream, she fell into a fainting fit. 

Wild Horse flew to her side when he heard her fainting 
scream, and administering his awakening influences, soon re- 
stored his dear Red Bud to' sensibility, and told her how it was. 

The two lovers then proceeded to the Palace of the Dead 
below, and began to concoct some scheme to awe and overcome 
the Crows and Black Feet, who were so diligently guarding the 
mouth of the cave. 

‘ * These two cub bears,” thought the lovers, “ will relieve 
all our pressing needs, for they are large and fat, and their flesh 
is very savory and' healthful.” 

So the lovers gathered up some sticks that they found scat- 
tered about, and kindled a fire on the mat of bones on the 
floor of the Palace of the Dead. 


CHAPTER XXXIX. 

Exploits of Jacob Jonah on Land. 

XT ow it somehow came into Wild Horse’s mind that the 
^ ^ Crows and Black Feet would take fright at the grinning 
human skulls that were near at hand, if the skulls could be pre- 
sented to thein in some kind of a frightful hobgoblin shape. So 
the scheming Wild Horse began to experiment. He took some 
of the fatty substance of a cub bear and pressed the oil froth it, 
and, procuring a cup-like stone, he filed it with the oil and put 
a piece of c^ry punk that he- carried in his pocket into it and set 
it on ore, and prying apart tne jaws h t ie grinning skeleton, 
he set the lighted oil inside. He then closed the jaws, set the 
skull down off at some distance to experiment on the scenic 
effects. And I will here use Wild Horse’s own words : 

“ O, horrible,” said he, “ was the sight indeed, such was the 
horrifying effects that it made my own flesh creep, and Red 
Bud most earnestly entreated me to take it out of her sight.” 
“And,” said he, “I was now almost assured that I had found 
the secret that would make me successful in my battle against 
the Crows and Black Feet. 

“ Jt was now after midnight, and Red Bud and I proceeded 
to execute the plan that I proposed, which was to carry a con- 
siderable number of the human skulls as near to the mouth of 

the cave as we could to be consistent with our own safety, and 

270 


THE HIDDEN TRE AS URE OF OLD UZARRO. 


*71 

then fill the base of the skulls with bear’s oil, set them on 
fire, and crawl into some cavity in the side of the cave, and 
make some supernatural out-cry, or utter some bewildering 
moan, such as would be most likely to proceed from a spook. 

“ So, according to this plan, we carried the skulls out and 
placed them in line near the mouth of the cave. And then we 
lighted up the grinning monsters which performed well by giv- 
ing just sufficient light to make the aspect most horrible. Then 
Red Bud and I concealed ourselves in the side of the cave, and 
at the proper time gave the usual hair-splitting out-cry of a 
spook.” 

But 1 cannot afford space to. give full detail in the story as 
Wild Horse, my uncle, told it to me. I must abridge. 

It would seem that the dogs that were in camp with the 
Crows and Black Feet, were first to answer the cry of the ghost. 
The dogs came y^ping at full speed till they reached the mouth 
of the cave and saw the glimmering spectres, then they gave the 
spectres but one quick and unsettled look, tucked their tails be- 
tween their legs, laid their ears back, and with a low growl, 
sneaked away. 

Next came two or three Crows and Black Feet, and took a 
look in the cave, and with a frightful “ ugh ” ran away and in- 
formed the whole band of what they had seen. Then all the 
Crows and Black Feet came up abreast, and standing back a 
respectable distance from the mouth of the cave, took one 
glance. . For an instant they seemed paralyzed. But recover- 
ing from the spell that the spooks cast over them, they, with one 
accord, ejaculated “ ugh !” mounted their ponies, and till quite 
out of hearing, Wild Horse could hear them exclaim, “O! 
Man-i-tou ! Man-i-tou ! preserve us from the spirits of the re- 
vengeful dead.” 

The Crows and Black Feet rode hastily back to the lodges 
of the great Crow Nation, and related what they had seen. 
Whereupon the whole Nation of Crows picked up bed and bag- 
gage, and moved one hundred miles farther away from the scene 
of spooks. And the place where the Crows and Black Feet saw 


272 PA TRICK O' MON 1 GHAN, OR 

the spooks, is to this day known among the Crows and Black 
Feet and Some other nations, as “ Skull Cave,” or the “ Cavern 
of Skulls.” 

Wild Horse crawled forth from the mouth of the cave, apd 
saw the whole army of Crows and Black Feet in full retreat, not 
even chancing to look behind. 

When he saw that all was safe, and that the battle was won, ^ 
he called to Red Bud to come out. Red Bud emerged from the 
cave that she had entered thirty-six hours before. 

So precipitate was the flight of the Crows and Black Feet 
when they saw the spooks, that everything was left just as they 
were using it at the time of the apparition of the spooks. 

Now Wild Horse and Red Bud began to examine the field. 
The most prominent marks of the battle were visible from all 
points. The first thing that attracted the eye of Wild 
Hor^e was old Sour Heels, who was hung up by the neck in a 
tree near at hand. This was done to keep vermin away from 
the body. And it was also believed that his body would pre- 
vent the apparition of the spooks. As the gods always favored 
the brave, poor old Sour Heels was to have been carried back 
to the lodges of the Crows, and buried with all the ceremonies 
and honors due a fallen chieftain; as it was thought he had 
fallen in the performance of a brave and thrilling feat. 

But the body of poor, unfortunate Mad Bull was not treated 
so kindly. His body was carried some distance away from 
camp, and thrown over behind a log, without the least* preten- 
tions of sympathy. Mad Bull, his friends thought, had lost his 
life in a conflict with the old grizzly bear, and thus fell by dis- 
honorable means, and to keep his body in camp, would be to 
invite base spirits. 

The robe of the old grizzly was stretched before the fire to 
dry, and great hunks of her meat were hung up near the fire 
roasting, which gave the camp a very fragrant smell. Lying 
around the camp in endless confusion, were bows, arrows, and 
manitous, besides trinkets,' man)- of which were of great value. 

Wild Horse and Red Bud' sat down and feasted on the roast- 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD U-ZARRO. *73 

ed flesh of the old grizzly. As Red Bud sat eating of the old 
grizzly s flesh, she would now and then steal a grave glance at 
old Sour Heels, her father, hanging in a tree near by. When 
she would seem to remember some kindness of her father in 
by-gone days, a large tear would roll glistening down her cheek. 

When Wild Horse and Red Bud*had a fill of the old grizzly 
they lay down to repose, and did not awake till long after sun- 
up in the morning. 

The first thing they did in the morning was to bury the 
dead. A large fissure in the earth was near by,— made, per- 
haps, by some volcanic commotion some time in the long past. 
Wild Horse and Red Bud thought that the fissure was a very 
beautiful, as well as substantial Mausoleum for the dead Sour 
Heels and Mad Bull. 

So Red Bud adorned her old father, Sour Heels with many 
affecting mementoes, and then Wild Horse carried the dead 
chieftain and cast him into the deep fissure in the earth. Mad 
Bull was then cast into the fissure after old Sour Heels. And 
Wild Horse, looking down, could see nothing of the dead, al- 
though he could see the jutting abrupt rocks, hundreds of feet 
below. 

Wild Horse secured a beautiful flat stone, and inscribed a 
memorial thereon, and erected this monument near the fissure 
where the dead were laid away. 

The following memorial was engraved on the stone : 

“ Sacred to the Memory of Sour Heels, Chief of the Crows, 
and Sacred to the memory of Mad Bull, the Black-Feet hunter. 
The above named dead fell at the battle of the Spooks. The 
battle of the Spooks, as near as this artist can tell, was fought on 
the twentieth day of August, A. D. 1828. 

“ The battle was waged by the Crows and Black- Feet on 
one side, and by the Spooks on the other. 

“ The Crows and Black-Feet were led by Sour Heels and 
Mad Bull. 

The Spooks by Wild Horse, alias, Wild Jake of the Woods, 
but known among Christians on the Atlantic and Arctic oceans, 
as Jacob Jonah the Whaler.” 

It took Wild Horse five days to finish and erect the mon- 
ument to the memory of Sour Heels and Mad Bull with the above 
affecting memorial inscription thereon. 


18 


CHAPTER XL 


Exploits of Jacob Jonah on Land. 

W HEN Wild Horse had completed and erected his memo- 
rial forget-me-not to the memory and valor of Sour 
Heels and Mad Bull, he rested a tew days to recuperate his 
over-taxed energies As Wild Horse rested from his labors, he 
began to reflect on his future prospects and what should be his 
next aim. Game was plenty in the neighboring country, and 
he and his dear Red Bud could live in contentment. 

But as bountiful as his provisions were, Wild Horse could 
not forget his escort that protected him on his journey from Big 
Dog’s village to the lodges of the Crows. “ Big Dog will be- 
come involved in war, and perhaps all my body guards have 
perished at the hands of the Crows,” Wild Horse would say to 
Red Bud. 

In fact the diplomacy of Wild Horse did come to a very- 
unfortunate end. But the misfortune could not well be attribu- 
ted to Wild Horse’s inefficiency as a diplomat. No doubt his 
love for Red Bud was so strong that it somewhat weakened his 
diplomatic virtues. But his weakness, if weakness it is called, 
was such as men are willing to forgive and to forget. Such, in 
deed, was the unfortunate end of his diplomacy, that he not 
only failed to make allies of the Crows, but had actually made 
war against them. And by the death of Mad Bull, he kiiew 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. a 75 

that the Black-Feet nation would join the Crows in wreaking 
vengeance on the authors of the war. 

So after spending a few days in camp with his dear Red 
Bud, he fixed up a snug place for her near Skull Cave, and start- 
ed off on foot to find the trail that he and his escort had 
come over when they visited the Crow lodges. 

After traveling two days over a very rough country, and 
when about to lie down for the night, he heard something that 
sounded like the old familiar war-whoop of his chieftain, Big 
Dog. And going to the top of an eminence near at hand to aid 
his hearing, he heard distant shouting as if proceeding from 
combatants engaged in battle. And far above the din of strife 
he imagined that he could hear the voice of Big Dog, Timothy 
O’Mulloon, the broad -faced nomad ian urging his followers to 
be brave and strong. When the shouting ceased, Wild Horse 
sought repose. 

Early 'the next morning the battle was again renewed with 
all its former fury^ 

Wild Horse made his way to the field of action with al 
speed, but with due caution. And after passing through a dens’ 
forest of shrubbery, he looked out on an open prairie not more 
than three hundred yards away, and there saw the opposing 
armies in a desperate conflict. He saw the mighty Big Dog 
using his deadly tomahawk with his usual skill, and effecting a 
fearful slaughter of the Crows. Wild Horse soon saw that the 
numbers of Big Dog’s army were few and diminishing fast 
before the deadly arrows and tomahawks of the Crows and 
Black-Feet. 

Soon the little force of Big Dog was entirely surrounded. 
Wild Horse looked on from his hiding place till Big Dog’s band 
faded away, and Big Dog was left standing alone. But the 
brave Big Dog never turned to fly or look behind him, but 
fought right on, till at last he sank to the ground, and then re- 
clining on his hand, he kept his ememies at bay till he was 
covered with a score of mortal wounds. At last he ceased to 
struggle Then with an apalling yell, a Crow warrior rushed 


276 


PATICK O’ MONIGHAN, OR 


on the dying Big Dog, and flayed off his scalp. Thus Wild 
Horse was an- eye-witness of the end of his unfortunate diplo- 
macy with the Crows. He saw Big Dog, the last of his 
band, fall. 

When the battle was over, Wild Horse made a hasty retreat 
back to his dear Red Bud. But you can imagine his chagrin 
and mortification upon reaching the little hut where had left his 
dear Red Bud and found that she was gone. He sought her 
everywhere that he thought she could be, dead or alive ; but 
without avail. He explored every nook and corner in the Pal- 
ace of the Dead. He made all kinds of cries that had been 
agreed upon between them, in case of lost separation. In ex- 
ploring the Palace of the Dead, he discovered an entrance that 
he had not known before. 

Thus Wild Horse spent fifteen dajs in watching and hunting 
for his dear Red Bud. Everything about the hut seemed to be 
in order — no signs of a struggle anywhere. But the great mys- 
tery would not give up its secret ; and with a broken and lone- 
some heart, Wild Horse made up his mind to return to the State 
of New York, and visit my father and mother at their home- 
stead near the river Hudson. Especially anxious was he to see 
my mother, his sister, from whom he had been separated so long. 

But before leaving the spot where he last saw his dear Red 
Bud, he unsheathed his memorial Arkansas hunting knife, and 
engraved on a tree near by the following touching verses in 
memory of his dear Red Bud : 

" There is an elysian home beyond this ebbing alloy, 

Where hope becomes real, and life an endless joy ; 

Beauty will never fade in heaven’s fair face, 

And there Red Bud will be endeared to the cherub’s grace . 

“ It is heaven's decree that her fate is tyiknown ; 

To the court of white-robed angels, no doubt she has flown. 

1 could not always be with her in feast, and the breaking of bread. 
But posterity will honor me for thus revering her — dead.” 

And here I close my story of the exploits in the wild West 
of Wild Horse, Wild Jake of the Woods, my uncle, Jacob 
Jonah, the overseer. 


CHAPTER XL1. 


Exploits of Jacob Jonah on Sea and Land. 



ILD HORSE, Wild Jake of the Woods, Jacob Jonah, 


* ▼ my uncle, the overseer, having lost his dear Red Bud, 
thought of my father. Above all, he thought of my mother, his 
only sister. So he determined to visit the familiar places of his 
youth, and endeavor to overcome the sadness of his heart. But 
when he reached my father’s house he still brooded much over 
the fate of his dear Red Bud, and the deep impression that the 
mysterious disappearance of his dear Red Bud left on him, lin- 
gered, and the thought of his dear one thirty years afterwards, 
made him sad and grave. 

He reached my father’s abode near the river Hudson, after 
a toilsome journey, and was once more addressed as Jacob Jo- 
nah, the Whaler. He reached my father’s house some time in 
October, A. D., 1828. When he left the Palace of the Dead, 
or Skull Cave, he carried many precious and rare ornaments 
with him, as well as some fine nuggets of gold. He had also 
many of the jewels of Big Dog. These valuables served to pay 
his way after he had reached the white settlements along the 
Mississippi river. 

When he reached my father’s homestead, he did not find 
that comfort that he hoped awaited him there. For he found 
my mother, his sister, failing in health, and she soon passed away 


2 7 8 


PA TRICK O'MONIGHAN. OK 


from earthly scenes, when I was a mere babe of but one year’s 
growth. Jacob Jonah was received with kindness by my father, 
for my father endeavored to soothe his troubled mind, and of- 
fered as an inducement, a fair .share of his agricultural products, 
if my uncle, Jacob Jonah, would but accept a partnership and 
settle on the farm. 

But the loss of his dear Red Bud, and then the loss of my 
mother, his only sister, over-shadowed all that was bright and 
joyous in his heart. And now it seemed that some expedition 
on sea, full of peril and thrilling adventure, would be the only 
remedy that would heal his broken heart. 

The time that he spent under my father’s roof, wore heavy 
upon him, and he began to pine and long for adventure. So 
after spending winter and spring with my father, he visited the 
city of New York, in the month of June, A. D., 1829. One 
day whilst he was lounging about a tavern, he picked up a paper 
that contained the following startling advertisement : 

“ New York, July 20, 1829. 

“ The undersigned sea veterans, having formed a company 
to look after the treasures that have been lost at sea, would re- 
respectfully invite public attention to the fact that this Company 
are desirous to enlist a crew of experienced sailors and divers, 
A liberal percentage of the treasures found will be given to the 
volunteers for the expedition. Applicants will be examined at 
the office of the Lost Treasure Company, at the tavern kept by 
John Grady; better known by its sign, ‘ The Sailor’s Friend,’ ” 
and so forth. The advertisement gave more definite particulars, 
but the above will be sufficient to show its tenor. 

Now here was the “ Balm of Gillead ” for the broken heart of 
Jacob Jonah, for he is Jonah the Whaler of old again. He threw 
the paper on the floor, tremor seized him. The blood rushed to 
his head. He would have shouted, but he was completely 
choked with emotions of joy as he saw his future prospects so 
suddenly brightened up. He would have rushed to the head- 
quarters of the Lost Treasure Company at “ The Sailor’s Friend” 
and volunteered, but he was so excited over the call for adven- 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 379 

turers thet he was too bewildered. “ Can it be possible,” 
thought he, “ that such an earthly paradise is offered free of 
price to sailors, such strong inducements. If gold is a sailor’s 
price, there it is.” 

Jonah walked up and dowu the bar room of the tavern in 
an excited manner for some time. And as soon as he could get 
control of himself and become convinced that things were as 
they appeared, and that his own eyes were not deceived, he 
hurried off to the office of the Lost Treasure Company, at 
“ The Sailor’s Frbnd.” There Jonah found the superintendent 
of the Lost Treasure Company, and immediately made known 
his wants. The crew was not quite made up, and especially as 
Jacob Jonah professed much sea lore, he was a desirable ac- 
quisiton to the crew, and was enlisted as a man-of-all-work, but 
especially as assistant to Fernando Crepo, the pilot. This was 

just to Jonah’s hand. As he had been bred a sailor, he could 

• ^ 
manage the helm and lead very well. 

.When Jonah was enrolled, he came down from the. office of 
the Lost Treasure Company a* new man. The air that he 
breathed seemed to have a friendly essence about it. He felt 
in such a good humor that he raised his hat to every one he met 
in the street, and smiled with an expression that as much as said, 
“ You poor subordinate creatures. Here you will be plodding 
along these streets when I will be diving down to the sea bed 
and picking up gold that has been awaiting my hand for per- 
haps these thousands of years.” 

Jacob Jonah had the “ buried kettle” of our ancestor, ‘‘Old 
Uzarro,” put down in he catalogue of the lost treasures, which 
the crew proposed to unearth on their return trip. 

About the time this lost treasure company was formed, some 
old Spanish caskets had been found on the beach somewhere 
about Cape Cod, where they had* been drifted out of the sea. 
The old Spanish caskets were full of silver and gold coins. 

So this discovery put all the sea rovers almost mad with ex- 
citement. And, indeed, the prospects of the Company with 
which Jacob Jonah volunteered, were thought good by every- 


28 o 


PA TRICK O' MONIGHAN , OR 


body. For, it was a well known fact that many ships had gone to 
the bottom of the sea laden with millions of gold, and other 
treasures of great price. 

The ship on which Jacob Jonah sailed was furnished by a 
company of rich merchants of New York city. Those that 
sailed on the expedition were principally hired sea veterans of 
unusual skill and experience. As the gold would be found, each 
stock holder was to receive his proper dividend. 

The merchants that furnished the ship had strong faith in 
the fabled wealth of the sea. So had pretty much everybody at 
that time. The ship “ Eo/as” was chartered for the grand 
enterprise, but the ambitious rovers of the sea that had 
the undertaking in hand, changed the name of the ship and 
called her the El Dorado. A name, sure enough, befitting a 
vessel that was to return laden with the precious treasures of the 
deep sea. 

The seas in which ships had gone down over-laden with pre- 
cious treasures, such as gold and silver, and gems of great value, 
would naturally enough be the’ first fields of the expedition. 

Accordingly, when all arrangements had been perfected, the 
El Dorado steered out of port on the first of September, A. D., 
1829, bound for the China Sea. And the reasons for sailing at 
once for that distant sea so full of Mongolian pirates, was clear 
enough to all the crew of the El Dorado. For the facts were as 
set forth in the authentic sea history of that time that the China 
sea was rich in gold and gems. For, it was a well established 
sea legend from time whereof the memory of the oldest sailor 
was not to the contrary, that a ship laden with the gold and 
gems of an empire had gone down in that sea. 




CHAPTER XLII. 

Exploits of Jacob Jonah on Sea and Land. 

F ERNANDO CREPO, the pilot, was an old sea rover. He 
was a Spaniard by birth and education. His youth and 
vigor were gone. He thought no more of ambitious undertak- 
ings, such as discovering new and favored lands. He had reach- 
ed that time in his age when he thought of the long ago, and 
of what glorious things he had done. Fernando had spent the 
vigor of his long life roving over the Southern and Antarctic 
seas. He was now seventy-four years old. He had repeatedly 
sailed around Cape Horn, and through the Strait of Magellan. 
He knew how to steer clear of all the dangerous rocks of Tierra 
del Fuego and Patagonia. So Fernando was of first importance 
to the Lost Treasure Company, for without Fernando it would 
be difficult to reach the China sea. Fernando was versed in the 
legend of “The Hidden Treasure of Old Uzarro,” But some 
of his old sea comrades that had become superannuated and 
quit the sea, lived in or about the city of Havana, Cuba, and 
these superannuated sailors knew the full particulars of 
“ the buried kettle of Old Uzarro.” The mysterious hiding 
place of the camp kettle had long been known to many of the 
old Spanish sea rovers, but from want of means or opportunity, 
the mysterious kettle was never unearthed. Aud it was deter- 
mined by Captain John Smith, of the El Dorado, to put into 


282 


PATRICK O' MO NIGH AN, OR 


the port at Havana, and get all the most reliable and authentic 
facts in regard to “ the buried camp kettle of Old Uzarro.” 

Accordingly' the El Dorado put into the port of Havana. 
Upon inquiry, the old superannuated sea veterans were found, 
and consulted about “ the buried kettle of Old Uzarro.” But 
the secret of the hidden treasure was not so easily elicited as 
Captain John Smith had expected. For the old sea rovers that 
held the secret would not give the required imformation till as- 
sured that they would be rewarded with a liberal share of the 
contents of “ the buried kettle of Old Uzarro.” 

When this matter was settled the old sea rovers said they 
would reveal their rich secret. And so they did, but in such a 
circumvented way that the secret wds after all lost. For the old 
seamen would impart the secret to none but Fernando Crepo, 
the -pilot, and they sealed his lips with the severest vows of 
secrecy. So that all that was ever known of the agreement be- 
tween Fernando and the old sea rovers was this much. After 
the El Dorado set off to sea from the port of Havana, my uncle, 
Jacob Jonah approached Fernando one day, and in a rather ex- 
cited and nervous manner said that he thought the old seamen 
had treated him disrespectfully in regard to the secret about the 
** buried kettle of Old Uzarro,” seeing that he was a lineal de- 
scendant of “Old Uzarro.” Fernando, seeing that my uncle, 
Jacob Jonah was vexed over the matter, soothed his vexation by 
saying, “ My young friend, it is all well enough. I have prom- 
ised my informants that I will keep the secret till on our return 
trip from the China sea. Then we will put into the port at 
Havana, where we will be joined by the old sailors that know 
the very spot where the ‘ camp kettle of Old Uzarro ’ lies hur- 
ried. You are to have the biggest share of it.” 

After this my uncle, Jacob Jonah, thought no more about it, 
and was content with his prospects. 

When the El Dorado had been out at sea for three days, 
some of the crew were seized with a severe sea sickness, and it 
having become rumored that Yellow Fever was on board, many 
of the crew became very much alarmed, and finalfy mutinied, 


# 


V , 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO 283 

and were clamorous for the Captain John Smith to put into 
some port. The Captain refused. So one dark night fifteen 
of the crew lowered one of the boats and put off for land. So 
secret were the mutineers in their plot, that the Captain did not 
discover their absence till they were quite out of sight. So he 
determined to let them go, and continue on his course with the 
remaining crew now reduced all told to fifteen men. 

My uncle, Jacob Jonah, became a very important person 
among the crew of fifteen, and was consulted on general mat- 
ters of the sea by Fernando Crepo, as well as by Captain John 
Smith. Fernando Crepo, although old and weak, continued to 
do the duty of pilot, and pointed out and foretold all the 
dangers that beset navigators, as the El Dorado neared the 
Strait of Magellan. 

But just when the El Dorado was nearing the Strait of 
Magellan, Fernando Crepo one moonlight night went forward 
of the forecastle to throw the lead, and left Jacob Jonah at the 
wheel. And just after he had thrown the lead and was letting 
the line run down, a monster, which he at once recognized as 
the sea-serpent, raised his head up far aoove the deck of the El 
Dorado, and lashing himself around the jib boom, with eyes of 
fire and jaws extended wide, darted his fangs menacingly at old 
Fernando, who dropped his line and fled to the inside of the El 
Dorado. 

Fernando immediately told Captain John Smith of the start- 
ling sight that he had witnessed. Fernando was greatly excited, 
but being a consummate sea rover, had discretion and approach- 
ed Captain John Smith, and whispered in his ear, “ The 
sea-serpent, the sea-serpent ! the El Dorado is haunted with 
the sea-serpent !” 

. In this way he communicated the fact- to none but the Cap- 
tain, John Smith. Had he cried aloud that the El Dorado was 
attacked by the sea-serpent, it wonld have proven disastrous in 
frightening the sailors out of all heart. 

Captain Smith was somewhat alarmed himself, but did all 
he could to pacify the mind of Fernando, But Fernando could 


284 


. 


PATRICK O' M0N1GHAN, OR 

not be pacified, and exclaimed, “I shall abandon the El Dorado 
at the first sight of land in the morning, and make for shore, 
for I have often been told by old sailors who knew all the mys- 
teries of the sea, that the lost treasures of the sea were claimed 
by the sea-serpent over which the monster constantly stands 
guard.” 

Captain John Smith reminded Fernando that it would be 
impossible to sail through the Strait of Magellan without his 
guiding hand at the wheel. 

“Ah!” exclaimed old Fernando Crepo, “since I have 
come to reflect on this business, it troubles me grievously to 
think that I have engaged in this sordid enterprise. I have 
been without the filthy gold of the old sea-serpent till the hey- 
day of life is past, and now I am old. And see how my avari- 
cious designs to acquire wealth have even roused up the old -sea- 
devil to haunt me ” 

When daylight returned, Fernando seemed cheerful again, 
and no longer fearful of the sea-serpent, and Captain John 
Smith hoped that his old pilot would recover from his fright 
before the El Dorado would reach the narrow rocky places in 
the Strait of Magellan. For at that time it required an expert 
helmsman to guide a ship through to the wide open Pacific on 
the West. 

But Captain Smith soon discovered that old Fernando would 
do well enough in daytime, but as soon as it was night, he would 
again become nervous and very fearful of the sea-serpent, and 
would peer out through the darkness and try to get a glimpse 
of his pursuer. 

And the Captain noticed that he grew worse as the El 
Dorado sailed into the Strait . so on the third night after the 
first appearance of the serpent, and whilst Jacob Jonah was at 
.the wheel, he heard a terrible screaming and pounding, and 
the cries, “help! help! help!” rang out over the still sea. 

Jonah at once recognized\he cries as proceeding from one 
of the berths down below; so he went below, thinking that 
some of the crew had indulged too freely of rum during ihe 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 


285 


evening, and were settling some trivial drunken dispute. But 
as Jonah got near the caus: of alarm, he stopped and took his 
•reckoning, and saw at once that the screams and ravings proceed- 
ed from the berth of Fernando Crepo. 

Jonah thoughtlessly and unguardedly proceeded to open the 
doer of Fernando’s berth, as it appeared from outward indica- 
tions that some of the sailors were on the inside engaged in a 
hand to hand encounter with their cutlasses. 

Jonah had barelv unlatched the door of Fernando’s berth, 
when a cutlass was thrust through the door at him, and so near 
did the cutlass reach Jonah’s vitality that it penetrated the skin 
of his abdomen. 


V. 


CHAPTER XLIII. 

Exploits of Jacob Jonah on Sea and Land. 

PHEN Fernando Crepo fell on the door with his cutlass and 
soon reduced it to splinters. He then turned to the win- 
dow at the end of his berth that looked out over the sea and 
commenced to hew away at the light timbers with his cutlass. 

By this time many of the sailors had gathered around Jonah, 
thinking there was sport aboard, “ What is this set-to about? ” 
the sailors would enquire as they came up near Fernando’s berth 
thinking that a boxing match would be their amusement. Jonah 
told the crew what he knew about the strange freak, and pointed 
to the scratch he had received on his belly. After some consul- 
tation as to the best mode to arrest -the disturbance Jonah 
secured alight and approached as near the door of Fernando’s 
berth as his caution would permit, He pushed the shattered 
door aside and let the light in on Fernando. When Fernando 
saw the light he ceased operations with his cutlass and turned 
around in a self-possessed but very loud manner exclaimed, " Why 
have none of you come to my rescue and relief? Have none of 
you been alarmed till now ? My cries for help I thought were 
sufficient to bring assistance before this late hour in the contest 
between me and the sea-serpent.” And Fernando went on at a 
great rate and severely reprimanded all within hearing. Both 
inferiors and superiors. Then Fernando told the sailors how it 

» 286 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO . 


287 


was. “ After I had retired to my berth ” said he, “the sea-ser- 
pent reached through the window of my berth, which was open, 
and endeavored to seize me. I saw his flaming eyes and ex- 
tended jaws as he advanced upon me through the window. But 
by the most persistent contest and skill I succeeded in keeping 
the old sea devil at bay till the Tight flashed in through the door ; 
then seeing the light the old monster vanished in the air or 
sought the deep bosom of the sea.” 

Fernando claimed that the contest between him and the sea- 
serpent was uneven, as he stood at a great disadvantage, for he 
could only aim his blows where he heard the hissing sounds and 
could occasionally get a glimpse of the eyes of the sea-serpent 
as they glared in the darkness. Fernando would not be con- 
tent till some of the men would agree to sit up with him in his 
berth till daylight. He would occasionally go to his bottle of 
rum and take a stiff drink of the invigorating beverage. So as to 
strengthen his courage. And there Fernando and one of the 
sailors sat and kept vigilant lookout for the sea-serpent. 

After daylight had driven the sea-serpent down to the bot- 
tom of the sea Fernando would now and then go out on deck 
and look away over the sea towards the Patagonian coast. He 
was anxious to reach land he said, for he again avowed it as his 
well settled purpose to jump overboard and swim ashore as soon 
as he could see the dear solid earth again. Some of the crew 
continued to watch at night with Fernando and kept a light 
burning in his berth. Fernando always kept his cutlass close by 
his side, and was even cautious enough to sleep with it in his 
hand and when he was in sound slumber he could somehow grip 
his Cutlass with a firm hand. Thus Fernando’s affairs were man- 
aged for some nights after his encounter with his old enemy. 

And it once more began to appear that the sea-serpent was 
about to quit pursuit. But alas, one dark night when the wind 
was howling at a hurricane rate Fernando suddenly started from 
his bed where he had been asleep, and with cutlass in hand made 
a thrust at the sailor who was watching with him. The sailor 
dodged aside and , managed to escape from the thrust of the cut- 


PATRICK O' MO NIG HAN. OR 


288 




lass. Fernando rushed out of his berth and with cutlass in 
hand struck right and left appealing for assistance, and to the 
utter consternation and amazement of the whole crew, he jumped 
overboard into the sea. A splash was heard as he struck the 
surface of the rolling sea, and that was the last of the old veteran 
pilot Fernando Crepo. He no doubt went to the bottom of the 
sea, and, alas, carried down with him the secret of the “buried 
kettle”of our ancient ancestor “ Old Uzzarro. ” 








i •< 


























CHAPTER XLI V. 


Exploits of Jacob Jonah on Sea and Land. 

Y ES, Fernando Crepo was the end of all accurate informa- 
tion about the “buried kettle” of our ancestor, “Old 
Uzarro,” so far as my uncle, Jacob Jonah, the overseer, ever 
found out. Of course Jonah felt his loss ; fqr he had come to 
consider the “ buried kettle ” of our ancestor, “ Old Uzarro,” 
as the brightest gem among all his future prospects. The repeated 
apd persistent attacks of the sea-serpent on the veteran pilot, 
Fernando Crepo, and at last the remote cause of his death, 
struck terror into the hearts of all the crew. 

The next morning after Fernando jumped into the sea, low 
mutterings could be heard about the sea-serpent following.the 
El Dorado. The sailors began to imagine that they could see 
strange and supernatural sights, as well as hear strange, ominous 
cries and moans from the sea. 

But Jonah, who always seemed paramount to difficulties 

and dangers, went into the berth that had been vacated 

by Fernando Crepo and examined the mattress of Fernando’s 

berth. There, alas ! alack-a-day was found the genuine sea- 

serpent that had sent Fernando to the bottom of the sea. 

For the mattress of Fernando’s berth was found completely 

stuffed with empty bottles that had been filled with rum by 

Fernando’s friends when the El Dorado was lying in the port at 

289 


290 


PATRICK O'MOMGHAN , OR 


Havana. Jonah had the mattress carried out where, it could be 
seen by the whole crew, and then he ripped it open and four 
dozen quart bottles rolled out, and all were empty, or nearly so. 
Jonah saw his chance and took advantage of the occasion, and 
without forethought,^ notes, or manuscript of any kind he de- 
livered one of the most effective and moralizing sermons on the 
evils that were surely brought on by the immoderate use of rum. 
Jonah took the opportunity to point out his own direct, and 
immediate financial loss by the untimely suicide of Fernando 
Crepo. 

“Fernando,” exclaimed Jonah, “ was the only man aboard 
the El Dorado that knew of the exact hiding place of the 
“camp kettle” of my ancestor, “ Old Uzarro,” and in that 
camp kettle, my dear friends, is buried the only tangible prop- 
erty interests that I had. Now, through the evil effects of rum, 
my future prospects are left bankrupt, and I am made to depend 
for my future acquisitions on the luck of the El Dorado in the 
China Sea.” 

The above is about all of his original speech that Jonah 
could remember, and I have to regret that this great speech 
was lost in the mists of the sea. 

When Jonah had pointed out how necessary and becoming 
it was for a sailor to perform his duty in a sailorlike and obedi- 
ent way, he found that all were determined to benefit by the 
fate of Fernando Crepo. All resolved to abandon the use of 
rum. And so they did. 

Jonah felt that he should return to New York, or at least to 
Havana, Cuba, when Fernando Crepo went down with the 
secret of the hiding place of the “camp kettle ” of our ances- 
tor, “ Old Uzarro;” for he would often think that the old 
sailors that knew of the “ buried kettle,” would soon pass away 
and thus leave the “ camp kettle ” in total darkness. But then, 
when he would come to reflect on the personal interests of 
others, he would see that his duty was to stay with the El Dora- 
do. He knew that the eyes of many were watching the El Do- 
rado and her crew ; and especially those personally interested 


291 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 

expected that the El Dorado would return from the China Sea, 
bearing rich fruit. 

The El . Dorado sailed along in the Strait of Magellan, and 
arriving at a beautiful natural harbor on the Patagonian coast, 
where the anchorage was good, Captain John Smith thought it 
best to rest for a few days. So the El Dorado was anchored for 
awhile, and the crew allowed to recuperate. 

The El Dorado had lain at anchor but a few days, when 
Jonah noticed that* some of the sailors were cultivating the 
affections of the Patagonian girls. In fact, he saw that the 
attachment of some of the sailors for the Patagonians was be- 
coming warm and loving. 

Jonah communicated with Captain John Smith, and gave 
his opinion about matters ; so the Captain ordered the crew to 
weigh anchor at once and sail out to the broad Pacific. 

The sailors that had fallen in love with the Patagonian girls, 
discovered the purpose of Captain John Smith to sail; so they 
fled toward the interior of Patagonia with their sweethearts. 
The Captain ordered out a squad to pursue, and bring back the 
abscondi^ sailors. But the pursuit proved fruitless ; the ab- 
sconders were nowhere to be found. They had no doubt been 
secreted among the rocks by their loving mates. And thus the 
El Dorado lost three sailors, who ran away with Patagonian 
girls. 

The crew of the El Dorado was now very much reduced in 
numbers, and when counted, both officers and men numbered 
but twelve. However, the El Dorado was a small vessel, and it 
was a consolation to those that stayed to-know that they would 
fall heir to the shares of lost treasures that would have been the 
portions of the absconders. 


CHARIER XLV. 


Exploits of Jacob Jonah on Sea and Land. 

I T was in the month of October, A. D. 1829, in the spring- 
time of the year in the Strait of Magellan when the El Do- 
rado sailed away from its resting place on the Patagonian coast. 
As I have observed the crew all told numbered but twelve. But 
being in the spring time of the year, in the latitude of that 
country the tranquil Pacific was unruffled by storm or fog, and 
the El Dorkdo with full sarfls and favorable winds moved swiftly 
towards the lost treasures of the China Sea. All were joyous 
and hopeful. The prospects of all were good. Within sjx 
weeks the jolly crew should have anchored in the China Sea. 

But a change came over the face of the deep. When the El 
Dorado had been out at sea about twenty days, the weather 
grew damp and foggy. There was but one mariner’s compass 
aboard and that was broken or so disordered that it would not 
indicate the course of the El Dorado. 

So Captain John Smith, the master of the El Dorado, had 
lost his reckoning some days before he was aware of the irregu- 
larity of his compass. So that the El Dorado had got several 
leagues away from her direct route to the China Sea and to the 
south-west, and in a direct line to Australia and the Cannibal 
Islands. When this was discovered the master, John Smith, 

had the El Dorado righted and pointed on her proper course, or 

292 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 


293 


as nearly her proper course as he could tell by aid of the Polar 
Star, as that was his next best index to the sea after his compass 
had become useless, Everything had been going on as well as 
could be expected under the circumstances when an intense fog 
settled down over the sea and shrouded the El Dorado in a pall 
of midnight darkness. The El Dorado was now in abottomless 
sea without any hope of finding a safe anchorage. But as the 
sea was quiet, Captain John Smith thought it as well to sail slow- 
ly on through the fog. Whilst the affairs of the El Dorado 
were proceeding thus, the low, rumbling sound of thunder was 
heard off in the far north ; presently rain came down in heavy 
torrents, then a stormy gale set in accompanied, too, by ear 
splitting peals of thunder and lurid and blinding flashes of light- 
ning. Soon the El Dorado was flying before the wind . The 
storm became a raging hurricane and drove the El Dorado with 
frightful speed before it. Jonah was at the wheel and managed 
to keep the stern of the El Dorado to the north and thus let her 
drive. 

When the storm struck the El Dorado the crew were feasting 
on the green, promising, golden fruits of the China Sea, and were 
badly prepared for such a sad and gloomy reality, for, although 
the El Dorado had been misled by the crazy compass, Captain 
John Smith was as cheerful *as if nothing of harm had taken 
place, and was often heard to remark, “ All these mishaps are 
sure harbingers of success. ” 

As I have before observed, Jonah turned stern and let 
the El Dorado drive before the gale. This manner of facing 
the dangerous gale would in all probability have been all well 
enough had the El Dorado had several thousand miles more sea 
to play on and drive over. But in fact, such was not the case, as 
will now appear. The gale continued with unabated fury for 
forty hours and the El Dorado had during all this time moved in 
a manner as a meteor moves across the heavens. There was 
nothing at all very remarkable about, this as long as the El Do- 
rado continued to fly before the wind. But it was the sudden 
beaching of the El Dorado that brought her to grief. For when 


294 


PATICK O' MO NIG HAN, OP 


the El Dorado was, as I have observed, driven many leagues 
south-south- west of her proper course to the China Sea, she w'as 
suddenly, without notice, at midnight, beached alongside of a 
small coral island by a great swell of the sea, for the waves that 
came down on her afterwards failed to move her in the least. 
The giant wave had done its work well. The El Dorado was 
lifted up and set down on the beach of the coral island with the 
coral island on the west and the broad sweeping Pacific on the 
east. 

After the storm the El Dorado would appear to the casual 
observer as if she had been built and rigged out upon that very 
spot and just prepared to launch. But when the El Dorado was 
lifted up by the sea and left on the beach of the coral island, no 
one could tell what her position was or what was the nat&re of 
the sea or land about her. During all this trouble Jonah re- 
mained at the helm. And when the El Dorado was settled on 
the beach he could see the general aspect of the coral island 
whenever the lightning lit up the surroundings. The storm con- 
tinued With great fury but could not budge the El Dorado. 

, There she was. As the lightning flashed, Jonah thought more 
than once that he could see human beings rise up above the .tall 
vegetation of the coral island. But as the flashes of lightning 
did not continue long at a time and the surroundings appeared 
so uncongenial to human existence he did not inspect the objects 
that the lightning revealed very closely. He naturally enough 
allowed himself to believe that human beings would seek a more 
congenial habitation than a desolate, storm ridden, coral island. 
And thus Jonah allowed the matter to drop from his mind. 

Captain John Smith held a consultation with the crew and 
it was agreed to by all that the El Dorado should be launched 
back in the sea at once, else she would be left high and dry and 
when the waves would abate there wouM be no hope of getting 
her off the beach again. Captain Smith sent Jonah down below 
in the hull of the El Dorado to make an inspection and give 
the crew warning in case the hull should be perforated in the 
attempt to pull her off the beach. So it was arranged that Jonah 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 


295 


should go below to keep watch there and ten should go down 
and operate with the boats whilst Captain John Smith would 
stand in person on deck to give out advisable commands and di- 
rections. 

When each sailor held the position assigned him: Ten were 
below in the boats, Jonah was down in the bottom of the El Do- 
rado examining her keel and hull, and Captain John Smith was 
in command, standing oh deck. Captain Smith thought that if 
the men were below in the boats that they would, with their oars 
and the force of the wind and waves, be able to launch the El 
Dorado back again in deep water and thus by a concentrated pulj 
of wind, waves and boats it was hoped the El Dorado could be 
lifted off the beach. When all was in readiness, and all hands 
were below on the turbulent waves Captain John Smith stood on 
deck and through his trumpet gave advisable directions. The 
sea was comparatively quiet when the men went below in their 
boats and for a few moments there was a lull in the storm and 
the sea was ominous, dark and still. Now it was afterward re- 
vealed that Jonah was correct in his suspicions when he had im- 
agined that he saw human beings out among the neighboring 
cocoanut and bread-fruit trees of the coral island. At least the 
condition of matters and what transpired afterwards indicated 
that Jonah saw human beings. 

It was pitch dark for some time after the men went below, 
and they sat in their boats awaiting the renewal of the wind and 
billows, and whilst the men below awaited the swell of the sea 
the distant, loud uproar of thunder in the north clearly indicated 
that the lull would soon be over and that the rain, wind and 
waves would soon come dashing down on the El Dorado. 
Captain John Smith took up his position on deck, 
and before the waves came down to reinforce the men in the 
boats, he in the absence of the storm, and when he had nothing 
else to do, began to cheer the men as they sat ready for their 
stormy work. His hoarse cheering notes as issued forth from his 
trumpet, sounded loud above the thunder and the splashing of the 
billows, I can do no better than to quote some of his own words: 


396 


PATRICK O' MONIG HAN, OR 


“Let me remind you, my brave lads,” said he, “that our lives as 
well as our fortunes and sacred honors depend on the successful 
launching Of the El Dorado. And let me remind you, my brave 
lads, that away off in the China Sea rests the fruit of all this 
peril and hardships. And let me remind you, that when we will 
be diving down in the quiet bosom of the China Sea, and return- 
ing to the surface laden with gold, and diamonds, and precious 
gems of great value, that the perils of this night will be buried 
down deep in the forgotten past. And let me remind you, my 
brave lads, that the El Dorado is the fixed, immovable, Polar Star 
that has attracted the eyes of the wealthy world. And, my lads, 
the El Dorado has already achieved a glorious immortality, when 
her exploits are made known to the world. Yes, an immortality 
and fame in which we all shall share alike. And to fail or fal- 
ter in this hour of peril will be to forfeit our good names that 
are now recorded high up in the temple of fame.” Thus the 
brave Captain John Smith urged his men, and nerved them on to 
glory and to the grave, by reciting imagery from the world of 
shadow and imagination, where the ambitious long and love to 
dwell. 


I 


CHAPTER XLVI. 

Exploits of Jacob Jonah on Sea and Land. 

APTAIN JOHN SMITH continued his cheerful oration, 
which was no doubt very encouraging to the men down 
below ; for the Captain recited many beautiful thoughts from 
his imagination, and reminded the sailors of the rewards of 
the virtuous and brave. 

But the lull ceased and the wind and rain blew down on the 
El Dorado from the north. Then the Captain changed the 
tenor of his speech and began to give timely and well-directed 
commands to the sailors down below. And in a few minutes 
afterwards the billows of the swelling sea struck the El Dorado 
and Jonah, who was down in the hole of the ship, heard Cap- 
tain John Smith give the imperative command, “ heave ’er up !” 
This was, no doubt, the last command that ever fell from the 
lips of Captain John Smith. 

Jonah heard this command, “heave ’er up !” as it sounded 
hoarsely through the Captain’s trumpet, and rose into a magnifi- 
cent strain far above the conflicting elements of sea and wind. 

Immediately after the brave. Captain Smith uttered the im- 
perative command, “heave ’er up,” Jonah heard something splash 
down on the raging .surface of the sea ; but he did not think 
much of it at the time. In fact, he did not feel certain at the 

time; at least, he did not think anything serious had happened. 

2 97 


PA TRICK O' MONJGHAN, OR 


298 

No doubt, from what Jonah soon afterwards observed, about the 
time that the brave Captain John Smith uttered the last syllable 
of “ heave ’er up,” he had received the long, pole-like, sharp, 
wooden lance of a wild Malay in his belly. And when the 
Captain was speared, he was instantly jerked overboard and 
pushed below the surface of the sea on the end of a spear. 

There the poor Captain was held below the surface where 
utterance was impossible till his life was out. For, it so turned 
out that a fleet of boats or canoes containing two hundred 
Malay cannibal pirates, had been out some distance from their 
home island when the storm came over the sea, and so had 
taken shelter on the the small coral island till the storm would 
abate, and the sea become smooth again. 

These Malay pirates saw the ill-starred El Dorado as she 
came over the storm-ridden sea. They saw her as the sea lifted 
her and set her down on the beach of the coral island. The 
hoarse notes of Captain Smith’s trumpet, too, was heard by the 
cannibals, and they could see the El Dorado also, as the light- 
ning lighted up the scene about her. 

Ten of the crew were down on the surface of the sea in the 
boats that were made fast to the ship on the leeward side. There 
they hoped with their oars to aid the wind and waves to launch 
the El Dorado back in the deep sea again. 

The cannibals lived on some small inhabitable islands some 
distance off in the sea. And as I have observed, were lodged 
on the small coral island temporarily only. The cannibals saw 
the maneuvers of the El Dorado ; and when the sailors went 
below in their boats, the treacherous Malays crept .up on the 
windward side of the El Dorado and speared all the sailors 
unawares. 

The Malays speared the sailors with long wooden spears. 
And if the sailors made any outcry when they were attacked, 
Jonah was unable to hear it from his position down in the hole 
of the El Dorado. The Malays are excellent swimmers, and no 
doubt swam around the sailors in such prodigious numbers that 
all attempts at resistance were futile. The pirates had crept up 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 


299 


unobserved and taken cover under the side of the El Dorado 
that was on the beach, and there awaited their opportunity and 
silently performed their human butchery. In fact, the hoarse, 
loud notes of Captain John Smith that all thought cheerful, 
together with the thunder and splashing of the sea, destroyed 
all sounds or outcries that could be made by men down on the 
surface of the sea. 

The men that were down below in the boats were no doubt 
speared first, and that too, without giving alarm to Captain John 
Smith ; afterwards, Captain John Smith was speared and drag- 
eed overboard into the raging flood. 

The wooden lances of the wild Malays had iron beards back 
some inches from the point, and when a spear was driven into a 
sailor, the pirates jerked the sailor overboard into the boiling 
sea, and there the poor sailor was held below the surface till life 
was out. 

The first intimation that Jonah had of the treacherous, cun- 
ning operations of the Malay cannibals, was when he came up 
out of the hole to get an account of proceedings above board. 
When Jonah was fairly out where he could witness operations, 
he was surprised at the ominous stillness all about the ship. So 
he sat down and awaited a chance flash of lightning. Presently 
a broad glare of lightning made every object stand out in plain 
view. Then to his paralyzing horror, Jonah saw the horrible 
circumstances of the El Dorado. He saw the wild Malays 
dragging the dead bodies of his companions out of the surging 
sea. 

The cannibals were about thirty paces below the El Dorado. 

Yes, the wild Malays were dragging Jonah’s companions out 
of the sea on the ends of long wooden spears. They were 
dragging the dead sailors out to solid earth, where they could 
lay hands on them and carry them off to their habitations. 

It was, however, but a flash of lightning that afforded this 
unpleasant view to Jonah. The glare of lightning did not con- 
tinue long so that Jonah could see the definite operations of the 
cannibals. But Jonah had seen enough. He now knew that he 


3 °° 


PATRICK O’MONIGHAN, OR 


was the only survivor of the El Dorado. He kept a sharp 
lookout for a minute or so, till another flash of lightning could 
reveal all that was going on below. And, in a short time a 
flash of lightning came, and having his eyes well set on the proper 
locality, he saw in an instant all that was going on. 

About thirty paces from the El Dorado, the wild Malays had 
dragged the dead sailors out of the sea. They were just drag- 
ging out the last one, and that was Captain John Smith. He 
was on the end of a long, pole-like lance, and appeared to be 
quite dead. 

Jonah now realized his dangerous situation, and began to 
meet his enemies in his usual cool way. He rolled the cannon, 
which was of ten pounds calibre, into position, and commenced 
to fire, aiming in the direction where he saw the cannibals mak- 
ing off with his dead companions. 

At the first fire of the cannon, he did no execution, but he 
saw by the flash of the powder what the cannibals were doing. 
They were hurrying off through the rank vegetation of the coral 
island, carrying the dead bodies of his companions. Then 
Jonah used all the strategy he had. He shouted and made out 
that he had great numbers at his command. And thus he kept 
up the cannonading, at intervals, all night. 

When day dawned, it was all clear enough to Jonah. He 
saw how it all was in every particular. The El Dorado was 
beached alongside of an island. It was a rich coral island, and 
supported a rank growth of small trees,— such in particular as 
cocoanut and bread-fruit trees, And a variety of vegetation 
besides, that gave the coral island a very pleasing aspect. And 
sp thick was the vegetation, that Jonah could not see more than 
twenty paces away from the El Dorado on the island side. The 
El Dorado was, however, injured in no particular ; and the scene 
was so quiet and peaceful, that one would imagine that the broad 
Pacific sea was always free from storms. 

Jonah kept on the lookout all night for the cannibals. But 
they had been so frightened at the cannonading that they 
abandoned the coral island before daylight. They went back 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 


301 


to the larger islands, some eight' or ten miles away from 
the coral island where Jonah was shipwrecked. And when the 
hungry, Malay cannibals reached their home islands, they were 
satisfied with what they had, and began to feast on the bodies 
of poor, unfortunate Captain John Smith and his crew. 


CHAPTER XLVII. 

Exploits of Jacob Jonah on Sea and Land. 

J UST after sunrise of the first day that Jonah was beached 
on the coral island he was greatly surprised and taken back 
to see what at first appeared to be the head of some strange 
animal or bugaboo of supernatural order, as it pushed the rich 
vegetation aside and poked its head out in open view, and 
looked toward where Jonah sat near his cannon awaiting the 
return of the Malays. 

When the strange looking creature poked its head out to 
view. Jonah had a musket in his hand and was on the alert, 
and ready to fire on anything that would seem threatening. 
Jonah would have fired at once, but the sudden appearance of 
the strange looking bugaboo, caused him to lose his equilibrium 
for a few minutes. Jonah rose to his feet and stared at th£ im- 
movable countenance of the creature that had its eyes so in- 
tently fixed on him. Coolness of mind began to return to 
him, and he tried to make out the kind of animal. But he 
could see nothing but the strange creature’s head, and that was 
about two feet above the ground. The strange creature had a 
beard full two feet long that reached down to the ground, and 
when Jonah had reached deep and cool thought, he at once 
made up his mind that the strange looking creature was of 
some of the ape or monkey families that are so numerous in the 
tropical climates. And, thinking that the bold, cunning crea- 
ture was watching him for no good, but for his harm, he rolled 
his cannon into position and prepared to fire, thinking that the 





302 


PATRICK O' MO NIG HA N, OR 

i 

report of bis cannon would alarm and frighten away the uncouth 
creature, as well as others that might be lurking about in the 
rank vegetation of the coral island. 

So as he made ready and was about to apply the fuse to the 
cannon, having aimed at the strange bugaboo’s head, the strange 
creaturne cried out in a very deep and sepulchral voice : 

“ I am a white man. ” 

Upon this announcement, Jonah quit his purpose to fire, and 
grew amazed and perplexed, and his mind at once gave way to 
the 'supernatural. His first impression was when the strange 
creature cried out, “I am a white man,” that the ghost of one 
of the dead sailors had returned to haunt the ship. 

When the strange looking creature cried out, “lam a white 
man,” it again relapsed into silence and eyed Jonah as intently as 
ever. Although the creature had a long gray beard and the 
steady and fixed look of a human countenance, Jonah could 
trace no lineaments of a human nature. The head of the crea- 
ture appeared to be spotted like the skin of a many, colored 
animal. 

After Jonah had looked at the creature till the scene grew 
monotonous, and he became cool and regained his full power 
of speech, he cried out : 

“ Come out on the open beach where I can see you !” 

The strange creature at once raised up, for it was in a re- 
clining position, and pushed the weeds aside and stood on the 
open beach. Then Jonah saw at once that it was a real human 
being dressed in skins of many colors, and held something 
under his arm that appeared to be a book. 

Jonah, having regained full control of his faculties, made 
bold to question the strange man dressed in many colored skins 

“ What country is this?” inquired Jonah. 

“ The unexplored regions south of the equator,” answered 
the man dressed in the many colored skins. 

“ In whose dominions ?” inquired Jonah. 

“In his Britanic Majesty’s, I believe/’ answered the 
in skins. 


man 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD U7ARRO. 303 

u Well, my dear sir,” exclaimed Jonah, now growing bold, 
“ don’t you know the name of your country, or your king, nor 
in whose dominion you live?” 

“ No sir ; this is a coral island,” answered the man in skins; 
“ besides, I am not a geographer, but a missionary hunting up 
and trying to reclaim the lost sheep of Israel. And here on 
these coral islands,” continued the man in skins ; “ I have long 
been engaged in my work of salvation among the wild Malays 
that inhabit these insignificant and obscure islands.” 

“ Very good,” said Jonah, desiring to continue the dialogue 
till he had made sure that that the man in skins had no bad in- 
tentions for him, and was not a part of the Malay cannibals that 
had killed aad eaten his companions. “ Very good. But have 
you no notion what water this is ? What sea or ocean is here, 
or about what latitude or longitude you are in?” ^ 

“ Well, as to that,” answered the man in skins; “ I would 
be happy to give you all the information you desire, but I can 
not. This much, however, I can say, that you are about twenty 
degrees south of the equator.” 

“Have you no compass?” inquired Jonah; “ so that you 
can take your reckoning ?” 

“ No sir ;” answered the man in skins ; “I have no compass 
and care nothing for my earthly reckoning. I proceed without 
regard to latitude or longitude, to the kings of the earth, or the 
pitiable hold they claim to the soil of these islands. I have no 
compass,” repeated the man in skins ; “ the Immortal Spirit 
that is in us needs none.” 

This kind and significant speech of the man in skins temper- 
ed Jonah down, and he began to feel friendly to the man in 
skins, and was almost ready to believe that the man in skins 
was what he professed to be — a missionary that had cast his lot 
among the wild Malays. However, Jonah was in no hurry to 
admit his strange visiter on board the El Dorado till he had 
made sure that he was a missionary of good moral character. So 
Jonah further inquired : 

(< What is the mainland of this coral island?” 


304 


PATRICK O'MONIGBAN, OR 


“ If you mean what continent is nearest,” answered the man 
in skins ; “ Australia is nearest, and about one thousand, or 
perhaps fifteen hundred miles south-west of here.” 

“Can you aid me in getting my ship clear of this island ?” 
inquired Jonah, for he was anxious to get out to sea, even alone, 
and thus escape from the Malay pirates. 

“ I am at your service,” answered the man in skins ; “ I will 
help you to launch your ship, aud will sail with you whitherso- 
ever you may be pleased to sail.” 

Jonah, thinking that he had used all proper caution, told the 
man in skins to come forward and get aboard. And, as that 
side of the ship that was next to the coral island was somewhat 
elevated, Jonah put a ladder down, and the man in skins climbed 
up and got aboard, carrying all the while his Bible under his 
arm. 

Jonah told the missionary that he approved very much of his 
calling, and when the two strangers had taken the hand of 
friendship, they talked together some time about the disaster of 
the El Dorado, and about the sad, unfortunate end of all the 
crew, but Jonah. The missionary told Jonah that he thought 
there would be no difficulty in launching the El Dorado back in 
deep water, as he was able to get all the assistance needed. 

After some inquiry, the missionary told Jonah that he had a 
brother missionary secreted out in the rank vegetation of the 
coral island, and that he would like very much to bring him on 
shipboard. To this Jonah consented, as he had made up his 
mind to accept the friendship of the missionary as genuine and 
pure. 

The missionary disappeared among the rank vegetation of 
the coral island, and soon reappeared, accompanied with his 
brother missionary. Both were dressed in skins of various 
colors. Both had long grey beard and very long grey hair. 
Each carried a Bible under his arm. Both were undoubtedly 
very faithful. Neither had any treasures on earth. Both sym- 
pathized with Jonah in his shipwrecked and castaway condition. 
When Jonah wept and spoke of the sadness of his heart, they 


> 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 3°5 

sympathized with him in his untimely bereavement of friends, 
and shed solemn tears of sorrow. 

Thus Jonah was soon convinced that the sympathy of his 
new friends was real and open. And so Jonah and the mission- 
aries threw off all guise and restraint, and talked in a familiar 
way about the circumstances that gov’erned the situation of the 
El Dorado and her only survivor, Jacob Jonah. 

The missionaries told Jonah that they lived on an island but 
eight or ten miles away where the Malays that murdered his 

I companions also lived at the time. The missionaries had been 
on the adjacent islands they said for but a few weeks, and were 
then living on the islands for a temporary purpose, only. That 
purpose was to convert some of the wild Malays over to Chris- 
tianity and lead them to the virtuous paths of truth. 

They told Jonah that their substantial base of operations 
was on the continent of Australia, fifteen hundred or so miles 
away. But that in company with some twenty odd converted 
Malay followers, they had been sailing about over the sea when- 
ever the Spirit moved them at random, as it were. Their crafts 
or boats were light, they said, yet able to stand out against a 
quiet sea, especially when manned by those dexterous rovers of 
the sea, the Malays. 


20 


CHAPTER XLVIII 


Exploits of Jacob Jonah on Sea and Land. 


\ \ / HEN Jacob Jonah discovered that the missionaries hailed 
V * from the land of the murderous Malay cannibals that had 


speared and carried off his companions, he became at once 
deeply interested and impulsive, and implored the missionaries 
to hurry off with him and try to recover at least the dead re- 
mains of his friends. And he may have hoped, too, that some 
of the crew survived yet as wounded prisoners. No doubt, such 
was his first impulsive thought. It was natural. But when Jo- 
nah manifested his anxiety to pursue the Malays, both misson- 
aries spoke out with one accord, “ No ! no !” they said, “it is 
no use ; your companions were all quite dead. We saw your 
friends when the wild Malays carried them home.” One of 
the missionaries continued with a deep sigh, “The Malays that 
inhabit these islands are cannibals--unconverted cannibals.” And 
after a moment’s pause for reflection, the missionary continued, 
“ Your friends have been cooked and eaten.” 

The missionaries thought the cannibals would not molest Jo- 
nah any more ; at least not that day, as they were feasting on 
the dead sailors. 

But it was the unanimous opinion of all, that the El Dorado 
ought to be launched off the coral beach the next day, as the 
cannibals would surely return to secure Jonah and the cargo of 
the El Dorado when they would get hungry again. So it was 


I 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 307 

agreed to at once that the two missionaries should return to the 
island where their Christian Malay followers were, and then all 
hands return and safely launch the El Dorado. And the mis- 
sionaries and their Malay followers would continue with Jonah 
till they saw the El Dorado safe in whatever harbor Jonah 
might prefer. 

Having matured these plans, the missionaries set off at once 
to perform their part. Jonah accompanied them over to the 
western side of the coral island where the boat was moored, and 
saw the faithful missionaries sail away well pleased with their 
future prospects. 

When his friends had departed, Jonah walked about and 
took a general survey of the coral island, which he found con- 
tained about one thousand acres, and supported a very luxuriant 
growth of vegetation, of which the cocoanut, palm and bread- 
fruit trees were the most conspicuous. 

When Jonah had taken in view the full situation of the coral 
island, he went back to the El Dorado to await the return of 
the faithful missionaries with their Christian Malays. 

When the missionaries left Jonah, they expected of course 
to be back again before sunset of the same day. 

They left their Bibles with Jonah, two old time-worn vol- 
umes that appeared to have seen a great deal of missionary 
service, and had no doubt performed a good Christian part 
among the wild, uncouth Malays, that at that day inhabited the 
small islands of the sea. Jonah spent hours in reading and re- 
flecting on the solemn warnings and injunctions that he found 
in the old volumes of sacred scripture that the Christian mis- 
sionaries left behind them as they thought, poor men, but for 
one day. 

When Jonah had examined and read the scriptures for hours 
he casually turned back to the fore part of one of the old vol- 
umes to see, as one is almost always sure to do, if the sacred 
volume had any autograph writing on the old blank moldy, and 
yellow leaves. 

Sure enough, the blank pages were full of writing that 


3o8 


Patrick o'monighan ; or 


amazed and astonished Jonah. The autograph writing on the 
blank leaves led Jonah back to the thought of the burning of 
Major Washington Beaver’s barn, of Thomas Jefferson Tobias, 
of “ the haunted meeting-house,” and “the meeting-house 
ghost,” all of which played so prominent a part in the Arkansas 
Territory, years before, and that had sent Jonah himself into 
exile in the woods, and through which he had received the 
heroic name of “ Wild Jake of the Woods.” For the writing 
on the blank leaves was indeed plain enough. It told its own 
unvarnished truthful tale. It was not ambiguous ; it was not 
confined to enigmas ; it was old and sear, it is true, but it was 
plain, yes, very plain. Thus it read : 

“Lost in the woods of the Arkansas Territory, and the 
night is so dark and gloomy that we have no proper and well 
defined knowledge of the surface that we have been traveling 
over. We can hear a noise as if made by the rushing of waters, 
We think we are near the south bank of the Arkansas River. If 
so, we have made a circle of our day’s travel and are back near 
the same point we started from this morning. We have been 
accused of burning Major Washington Beaver’s barn and driven 
from our homes on that account. We are innocent. We have 
never harmed any man, woman or child. We have made a fire, 
and here we will stay till morning, when we will again resume 
our wanderings, provided that we are not devoured by wild 
beasts before day. If we should be devoured by wild beasts 
and this Bible survives, and is found before it has gone 
to decay, we hope that the finder will do us the posthumous 
kindness and honor to have this, our dying declaration, made 
public: We are innocent. We have never knowingly violated 
the law of man or God.” 

“ Very sincerely your obedient servants, 

Parson Witherman, 
Elder Goodlove.” 

“ P. S. Should we be able to escape from America, we 
will try and make our way to Australia and there spend our 
lives in preaching to the Wild Malays,” 


V 


CHAPTER XLIX. 


Exploits of Jacob Jonah on Sea and Land. 

H ERE, then, on this lonely coral island, Jonah had dis- 
covered Witherman. and Goodlove, who had fled from 
the Arkansas Territory eight years before to escape death at the 
hands of the mob that was lead on by Thomas Jefferson Tobias, 
the leader of the riff-raff and the old schismatics and scorners 
that had taken advantage of the story of “ the meeting-house 
ghost,” and “the haunted meeting-house,” and the burning of 
Major Washington Beaver’s barn, all to drive Witherman and 
Goodlove away from their homes in disgrace. 

Great, you may be sure, was the joy of Jonah when he dis- 
covered through the autograph writing in the Bible, Witherman 
and Goodlove. He laid the Bible aside and went over to the 
western side of the coral island as evening was coming on, and 
looked and looked away out over the sea to see Witherman and 
Goodlove returning to the coral island with their Christian 

Malays. ^ 

Time bore heavily upon him, as he was anxious to inform 
the faithful missionaries that the hallowed head of truth had 
risen years before in the Arkansas Territory and reversed the 
poor, weak human judgment that had been given against them 

by Thomas Jefferson Tobias and his wicked followers. Yes, 
J 309 


PATRICK O' MONIGHA N, OR 


3™ 

Jonah wanted to tell Parson Witherman that “ the meeting- 
house ghost ” was a piece of clay that had been taken from a 
chink in the wall of the meeting-house and thrown at him by 
the malicious hand of a worldling. In short, Jonah wanted to 
tell the story of the confession of Thomas Jefferson Tobias 
after he had been caught with his pelf in the deadfall of Harry 
Crow. He wanted, too, to tell the missionaries that he had been 
crowned under the heroic name of “ Wild Jake of the Woods," 
by the yeomanry of the Arkansas Territory. 

As the sun declined in the West, a strong gale 'began to 
blow over the sea ; a sorrowful gale it proved to be ; and Jonah 
became fearful lest Witherman and Goodlove should not be able 
with their light boats to return to the coral island that same 
evening. And as night drew near, he grew more troubled and 
fearful. He would put his hand over his eyes and watch and 
watch out over the sea. 

And Just as daylight drew to a close, he discovered in the 
West boats moving in the distant horizon of the sea. Now his 
. longing was changed to joy. He ran back and got aboard of 
the El Dorado. He involuntarily clapped his hands and 
shouted : 

“ O, won’t they be glad when they know who I am.” 

Alas ! frail and vain human hopes. The boats soon reached 
the coral island. Bearing friends ? No ! But enemies — savage, 
human hyenas ; wild cannibals, that came not to comfort and 
cheer him, but to eat him, — yes, to eat him and to pillage the 
El Dorado. 

It was late, almost dark, when the wild Malays reached the 
coral island. And Jonah had thought of nothing but the return 
of Witherman and Goodlove and their Christian Malays, and 
when the wild Malays reached the coral island, Jonah was 
aboard the El Dorado sitting on deck, and impatiently awaiting 
the reappearance of his friends. 

The rich vegetation of the coral island hid the wild Malays 
from his view when they reached the island and moored their 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 31 1 

boats ; and the first intimation that Jonah had of danger was 
when a score of the wild cannibals charged out to the open 
beach and let fly as many deadly arrows. Fortunately, Jonah 
anticipated what was coming, and dodging the fire, let the mis- 
siles pass harmlessly over his prostrate body. And then the 
battle opened in good earnest. Jonah’s superior war equipments 
enabled him to keep up his side of the contest with marked ability 
and glory till the darkness of night intervened to the advantage 
of the wild Malays. For the darkness became so intense that 
he could not see his cunning assailants as they crept up and 
surrounded the El Dorado. 

Jonah took his ladder up that reached down to the beach, so 
that his assailants could not climb up. He then ran around on 
deck trying to guard all the vulnerable points at once, firing at 
wandom occasionally, and doing whatever execution he could in 
that way, and would no doubt have won the battle, had he not 
become quite exhausted and undone. For such was his ex- 
hausted state that he fell prostrate on deck, and before be could 
recover from the stunning effects of his over-exertion, several 
of the wild Malays had got on board the El Dorado. 

Seeing this, and being unable for a hand to hand encounter 
against his numerous enemies, he jumped overboard into the 
sea and swam away. He made a circuitous route in the sea, and 
landed on the opposite side of the coral island, and secreted 
himself in the thick vegetation. 

The wild Malays thought, perhaps, that he had drowned in 
the sea, or else they were too busy in robbing the El Dorado to 
think of Jonah, as they did not seem to look after him any 
more. 

When Jonah had been secreted for some hours in the thick 
vegetation of the coral island, he heard wild screams on board 
the El Dorado. He then knew that the cannibals had found the 
rum. They were drunk, raving and yelling. Soon the El 
Dorado was in .flames. The wild Malays had set her on fire. 
May be the fire was accidental. However it may have been, 
the flames soon lit up the sea for miles and miles around. 


I 


312 PATRICK O' MONIGHAN, OR 

It was a grand scene, indeed. And when the fire reached 
the powder magazines, a terrifying explosion followed, and in 
the bright glare, Jonah saw, to his infinite delight, the ascend- 
ing bodies of many Malays. Soon Jonah was surprised to hear 
the report of a cannon shot, and, looking out over the sea, he 
saw a light, and then he knew that assistance was at hand. 

Yes, the merchant ship, “Morning Star,” from Valparaiso, in 
Chili, bound for Sidney, in Australia, had discovered the burn- 
ing El Dorado. The wild Malays were greatly alarmed, when 
they heard the report of the cannon, and hurried away from the 
coral island, carrying their drunken, and dead companions. 

The next mojning boats were sent in to the coral island from 
the “Morning Star,” and were heartily welcomed by Jonah, the 
only survivor of the lost El Dorado. Jonah told the sailors the 
sad story, of the El Dorado, and was taken on board the “ Morn- 
ing Star,” where he became a great hero. He sailed on the 
“ Morning Star ” to Sidney, in Australia. 

Just when the “Morning Star” had sailed away on her course 
in the early morning, he saw the boats of Parson Witherman 
and Elder Goodlove approaching the coral island from an oppo- 
site direction. They had two boats well filled and manned by 
the Christian Malays. But they were far away. Jonah took a 
piece of bunting and waved it over his head, and made all the 
signs that he thought would be likely to be recognized by 
Witherman and Goodlove, and their Christian Malays. But he 
was then distant and still sailing away, so that he was never 
able to say whether they recognized his parting salutation, or 
not. Perhaps they were too far away to see his parting salute. 

Whether the coral island on which the El Dorado was 
beached, still withstands the storms of the sea, or not, I am not 
able to say. But this much is certain, that the coral island was 
green and flourishing twenty years after the disaster, and was 
known to the rovers of the sea as Jonah Land. Perhaps it has 
been washed away ere this. 

It may have been that the wild Malays saved the old vol- 


THE HIDDEN TEE AS DEE OF OLD UZAEEO. 


313 


limes of sacred Scripture from the flames of the burning El 
Dorado, and that they were returned to Witherman and Good- 
love again. Let us hope, at least, that it was so ; and let us hope 
as well, that Witherman and Goodlove lived to a ripe and green 
old age, and subsisted with good grace and much thanksgiving of 
heart, on the produce of the cocoanut and bread-fruit trees. 


✓ 


CHAPTER L. 

Exploits of Jacob Jonah on Sea and Land. 
OLONEL NAPOLEON NICHOLAS, on whose plantation 



I found my uncle, Jacob Jonah, when I was shipwrecked 
on the Mississippi River, was on board the “Morning Star.” 
Nicholas was a native of France, but of English parents. He 
was reared and educated, too, in England, and had won his 
military laurel in the service of the English king. He had been 
promoted to the rank of Colonel some years before from a po- 
sition of very inferior grade, on account of meritorious conduct 
in a battle fought against the convicts — the exiled convicts in 
Australia. 

The convicts that were exiled and sentenced to penal servi- 
tude, and a life of laborious toil in Australia, rose up and at- 
tempted to throw off the galling yoke of servitude. They did 
succeed in slaying some of their keepers, and would, it is said, 
have escaped from thralldom, only for the brave Nicholas, who 
was one of the keepers. And he performed his part in such a 
military and meritorious way that he found favor in the eyes of 
the English king, and was promoted to the rank of Colonel. 

Nicholas had amassed wealth besides, in the mines of Aus- 
tralia. He had quit the mines of Australia, and purchased an 
extensive area of land in our own genial Louisiana, with the 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 315 

intention of becoming a planter. Nicholas was returning to 
Australia, to settle up some of his old affairs. 

Jacob Jonah, of course, was considered as one very heroic, 
in having survived the disaster of the El Dorado. In fact, Jo- 
nah was favored and flattered by all the passengers and crew of 
the “Morning Star.” And it was thus that Nicholas was attract- 
ed to him. 

When Nicholas became acquainted with Jonah, he was his 
friend evermore. And on his return from Australia, took Jonah 
back with him to his plantation in Louisiana, where Jonah re- 
mained under a liberal salary, till the Confederate war of Se- 
cession broke out. 

Perhaps Jonah had become disgusted with adventure when 
he joined Nicholas, and accepted the unpretentious position of 
overseer. At least one would think so. 

However it may have been, Jonah remained on the plantation 
in Louisiana for lull thirty years, and led a life of elegant ease 
and luxury. He had such leisure, that he took a deep interest in all 
the political upheavels of the country, and was a spectator at all 
public speakings, often taking a part in the local oratory of his 
parish. But he never asked for political distinction. He declined 
office. He was content with his rank of overseer. His life was 
never adorned with wife or child. He lived a serene and 
contented life, till the month of May, A. D., 1861. 

When the Confederate war of secession was fresh* and the 
good people of the South were full of zeal and hope for a better 
Government, Jacob Jonah went with them. 

When the good people of the South said, “ We want to live 
apart from our enemies,” Jacob Jonah sympathized with them, 
and with a true charitable Southern spirit, he enlisted in a Mis- 
sissippi State regiment, on the Confederate side. 

Although old, for he was past sixty years, he enlisted and 
served as a private, and carried a musket, and behaved faithfully 
and well on numerous battle fields, and on many a wearisome 
march. He never loitered behind. At company roll call, he 
always answered “ here,” when not on post. 


PATRICK O' MONIGHAN, OR 


3 l6 

But alas ! the end is here. Jacob Jonah failed to answer 
for once at roll call, and that once was forever'. 

On the evening of the secopd of January, A. D., 1863, on 
the battle field of Stone River, in Tennessee, Sergeant Preston 
Grey called the company roll after the contest of the day. He 
thrice called aloud, “Jacob Jonah! Jacob Jonah! Jacob 
Jonah !” But the familiar “ here ” did not as of old echo back 
again. No ! Jacob Jonah was fallen. 

To-day, his bones repose, if they were not disturbed, in one 
of the unknown and unnumbered graves of the battle field, on 
which he was slain. You may pass his grave ; you will know it 
not. There is no marble forget-me-not, or decoration there. Jacob 
Jonah sleeps ’without a statue, but not without fame. 


CHAPTER LI. 


Patrick O’Monighan Concludes his Story by Giving 
Some Accounts of Himself, 

A TRICK O’MONIGHAN is my real name— the name that 



r I inherited from Dennis O’Monighan, my father. In the 
beginning of my story, I told you that I would again make 
mention of myself in the last part of my story. Making myself 
the closing theme of my story, I think is in consonance with 
good taste. But the reason why I make only bare mention of 
myself in this story, will appear further on. I am not known 
to the world as Patrick O’Monighan. But it is of little conse- 
quence to you what my alias name is. And it would not at 
present be in good taste to make my assumed name known to 
the world. 

Patrick O’Monighan, my real name, fled with my youthful 
hopes, and here I can not refrain to remark, on the frailty of 
my youthful aspirations. I have now lived over fifty years. My 
youthful hopes have all fled. Yes, fled, too, when some of them 
were, as I then thought, within hailing distance of reality. I 
may truly say that I never reached any of the goals toward 
which the ardent hopes of my youth led me. 

When I had reached my full, physical power at twenty-one 
years’ growth, I sailed down the Mississippi River in pursuit of 
“the hidden treasnre ” of my ancestor, “ old Uzarro ; and, 


3 ** 


PATICK O' MONIGHAN, OR 


as you may have observed, I was shipwrecked and cast into the 
turbulent waters of the Mississippi, and had to swim for life. 
This was the first severe pang from disappointed hopes that I 
felt. 

“ The hidden treasure of Old Uzarro ” was early impressed 
upon my mind by my dear old father. He thought, poor man, 
that he discovered in my early outcroppings a peculiar fitness 
for such diplomacy as he was of the mind that it would require 
to visit Mexico and unearth “the buried camp kettle of Old 
Uzarro,” without war, bloodshed, or calamity, and without, in 
fact, any public ado worth speaking of. My father thought that 
I could use any cunning guise or duplicity that my interests 
might dictate. Thus I would be able, as he thought to find 
“Old Uzarro’s buried pot,” without engendering any anxious, 
or bitter feelings among the Mexicans. 

Now, in my maturity of judgment, I can see how my dear old 
father had come to estimate my diplomatic virtues so highly. 

When I was of, say fifteen or sixteen years' growth, I was of 
a kind and affable temperament. I treated all that stood around 
me, or came in my way, to good manners and smiling civility. 
And thus I avoided all the rough and tumble fights that were of 
daily occurrence, so far as I know, all along the river Hud- 
son. On this account my father had counted upon my diplo- 
matic genius. 

But my diplomatic mission to Mexico was terminated in the 
waters of the Mississippi ; for I never more attempted to better 
my fortune or standing in the world, with the hidden wealth of 
my ancient ancestor. 

However, the respectful style that I had acquired of treating 
those that happened to stand near me, served me to a good pur- 
pose when I swam ashore from my shipwreck. For, had I been 
insolent when I first reached shore, the overseer and his darkies 
would, in all probability, have soused me back in the waters of 
the Mississippi, and there left me to struggle and strangle with- 
out a helping hand. 

But as it was, I treated the overseer and hjjs darkies kindly, 


319 


♦ THE HIDDEN TRE AS URE OF OLD UZARRO. 

and thus discovered in the overseer, my long, missing uncle, 
Jacob Jonah, And in the preceding pages of my story, I have 
told a plain story of him. I have attempted no eulogy of him ; 
such was not my purpose. My aim was to tell a straight, bare 
story. I will here add no supplement to his worth. There is 
no room or need of it. 

When I had been on the plantation a few weeks, my uncle, 
the overseer, told me that I better study medicine, as medicine 
was a calling for which he thought I was well adapted. In a 
few days more the overseer became very enthusiastic about the 
matter, as if his all depended on the calling that I was to pursue. 
The overseer was continually toasting the medical profession. 
He spoke highly of the dignity of the profession. And he would 
speak of the conscious feelings of future rewards in glory that 
must ever palpitate in the breast of the doctor, as he mounted 
his horse with saddle bags in hand, and sped away through the 
billowy darkness of midnight, and found that he had arrived 
just in time to interpose a pill that would ward off the messenger 
of death. 

At first I did not take very well to the advice of my uncle, 
the overseer, but he made a specialty of my future welfare and 
and cited historical characters as evidence of his own opinions. 
He referred me to instances wherein men learned in the medi- 
cal profession had risen far above their calling. He pointed out 
some very prominent characters indeed. One had acquired 
great wealth, was happy and able to isolate himself from the 
world. One had managed the political riffraff in such a cun- 
ning way that he was made Governor of his State, and when he 
died the survivors of his parties raised a memorial fund and 
erected a monument on his grave. Another was made General 
of the Dragoon Militia. Although the General never went to 
war his genius was recognized and fully appreciated by all in the 
military line. In fact the will of the General was a fair test of 
patriotisrp and devotion to country. 

When my uncle, the overseer, had pointed to these shining 


320 


PATRICK O'MOMGHAN . OR 


lights, I, myself, began to see that many great men bad risen to 
honor and distinction, that had begun their walk in the medical 
profession. In fact I began to take some interest in the matter 
and, as the disappointment of my mission to Mexico began to 
wear away, I began to feel ambitious about my new hopes and 
prospects. But I did not feel confident in my ability to grap- 
ple with the medical terms that I had before seen in the coun- 
try drug stores. So I made my doubts known to my uncle. 

“ I have no schooling,” said I, “ in the forgotten languages 
such as Greek and Latin.” 

My uncle did not laugh outright in my face at this saying of 
mine. But I could see that he was suppressing laughter and 
chuckling at my expense, and when he had his laughter smoth- 
ered and had regained confidence he looked up at me with a 
straight face. 

‘‘Ah, well, as to that, Patrick,” said he, “ never mind that, 
never mind the languages, especially the forgotten ones. You 
have language enough to begin with at any rate.” 

I had it in mind how aristocratic the old thoroughbred doc- 
tors used to appear to me back in New York, so I spoke up. 

“ I am afraid,” said I, “ that my early training has vtot been 
in keeping with so high a calling, and it will take many years of 
hard study before I will be learned enough to assume the dig- 
nity and enter upon the duties of a doctor.” 

My uncle smiled. \ 

“ Oh, well, as to that,” said he, “I see that you have en- 
tirely too high a notion of men and their vocations; my dear 
Patrick,” he continued in a very kind but emphatic manner, 
“ Your head is full of impracticable ideas, you must now begin 
. to be a practical man and put away the foolish notions you have 
of learning: Be practical, Patrick, be practical,” said he, ‘‘at 
all times,” as he gave me a look full of confidence. 


I 


CHAPTER LIT. 

More About Patrick O’Monighan — the Wabash Scratch- 
ers _he Studies Medicine— his Father dies in New 
York— Dennis Moran absconds with his father’s estate. 

A FTER these energetic words by the overseer, we both re- 
mained silent till I again spoke up. “ I have no book to 
learn in,” said I. 

“ o, give yourself no trouble about that,” said he, I will 
furnish you with books as fast as you can digest their prescrip- 
tions. I have 4 Primrose on Diseases of the Skin,’ and in 
< Primrose ’ you will find, I am sure, as much as you can practice 
for the first year or two.” 

From being cold and careless about the matter of taking to 
the medical calling as my occupation when the overseer first pro- 
posed it to me, I was now seized with an impulsive spell of in- 
terest, for I impulsively hitched about in my chair. The overseer 
saw this. He also cast a strange look at me when I, feeling an 
itching of my cuticle, reached down and vigorously scratched 
the disturbed locality. But you can better imagine my feelings 
that I can express them, for the overseer threw me off my equi- 
librium at once, and into an excited mental condition when he 
next spoke. 

“ I am afraid,” said he, “ that you show symptoms of ‘ the 
Wabash scratches.’ An immigrant from Chicago, Illinois, came 


PATRICK O'MOXIGHAN. OR 


down to these parts parts seme months ago aud brought down 
with him that never failing source of activity up there during 
the wet, muddy, gloomy seasons peculiar to that latitude. The 
Illinois immigrant,” said the overseer, “has given the Illinois 
malady to all my darkie^, and I suppose from the symptoms that 
you manifest, that you have been rubbing around some of the 
infected huts, and have been inoculated.” 

I was greatly alarmed indeed, and made many inquiries about 
the symptoms of the Illinois malady and thinking of the most 
material part of all, I inquired if tho disease proved fatal in 
many cases. 

“ O, no,” said the overseer, ‘.‘.only where it is combined 
with other diseases.” 

The overseer, seeing that I looked sad and forlorn, and was 
taking the matter to heart, twitted me about my classicql aspi- 
rations, as I had before appeared solicitous about the languages 
of the ancient Greeks and Romans. “You will not,” said he 
with a laugh, “ have to go to Athens or Rome to get rid of the 
Illinois malady. “The Wabash scratehcrs,” continued he, “are a 
native of Illinois — are unacquainted with the refinement of the 
ancient Greeks and Romans, and yield better to a treatment of 
brimstone and grease, than to a treatment of Greece and Roman 
phrases.” 

Ii a few days. I found that I had a well-developed case of 
“the Wabash scratchers ” on hand, and after my first flush of 
cxitement was over, I fell to the study of “Primrose on Diseases of 
the Skin,” and found many virtuous prescriptions within it s 
scientific folds. So that by the time that I was rid of the Illi- 
nois complaint, 1 was quite well posted on diseases ef the cuticle 
and through my practice in mixing the prescriptions for my 
own self preservation, that I found laid down in “Primrose.” 

I was something of a chemist, loo. Under the friendly advice 
of my uncle, the overseer, I turned my attention to the study of 
botany; and I delved into that beautiful science with enthusi- 
asm, and in a few months I was well versed in the botanic world. 

So far as it was an exhibition in that part of Louisiana where 


THE HIDDEN 'TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO, 

I was. I made a specialty of “ the Wabash scratchers,” and the 
worst chronic cases yielded to my skillful prescriptions ; so that 
in six months from the time that I commenced to deal with it, 
there was not a root or branch of that active malady left within 
the circuit of my practice. My reputation took wings and went 
abroad, and the news of my successful operations spread to the 
bedside of every invalid that was within two day’s journey on 
horseback of my abode. I was called to the bedside of rich, 
aristocratic planters, who took my prescriptions, however nau- 
seous the medicine might be, without a grimace or grunt, and 
with an astonishing degree of confidence, although a few months 
before, I was a shipwrecked adventurer and stood at bay like 
some evil beast on the bank of the Mississippi River. And a 
lew weeks afterwards I began to give a few hours each day 
to perusing “ Primrose on Diseases of the Skin,” and occasion- 
ally visiting a darky hut to try a new remedy on some old chronic 
case of “the Wabash scratchers,” and thus explode some old 
fogyism that I wanted out of the practice. 

Within one year from the time that I first read a page in 
“Primrose,” I had come to be regarded as a botanic genius. 

So well versed was I in all the herbs, roots, barks, vines and 
plants that I was called the “ Botanic Doctor ” by way of com- 
pliment. And I was addressed by everbody as “ Doctor 
O’Monighan.” 

The overseer, my uncle, had it given out in the hews that I 
was a ripe scholar, and was able to make many material discov- „ 
eries and amendments in the scientific wqrld. He would be 
continually informing his friends of some new virtue that I had 
evolved from some plant or root. So my uncle took great 
pleasure in my new inroads in the botanic and medical world. 

In a word, he enjoyed my fame better than I that was the star 
of the new discoveries, for he could walk about with his 
hands in his pockets and imagine what my next development 
would be. Visitors would come to my medical manufactory, 
and vex me with many questions, and would of course try to 
get my secrets from me, and thus rob me of the rich fruits of my 


PA TRICK O'MON/GHAN, OR 


labors. The quacks that made a profession of the healing art, 
would come to my laboratory and look into the pot where I would 
be boiling down my barks and roots, and then try to sneer at, 
and make light of my “ new departure,” as they would call my 
war on the old fogy isms that they all professed. 

I had the nerve, however, to take no heed of the derisive 
smiles of my rivals, but continued to pull over all obstacles that 
I found in my road to fortune and fame. I knew that the man 
that blazes out a new path is always thought foolish for devia. 
ting from the old beaten path, that the whole woild travels. 
Notwithstanding the sneers of my rivals, I saw that there was a 
great deal expected of me. Bat I am not giving a history of 
my practice in this story — that will be found in my unpublished 
memoirs. 

In my readings and investigations, I made many discoveries 
in medicine that might have proved of great comfort and relief 
to the sick and to the human family generally, had they been 
advertised to the world at large. But to the loss of the human 
family, the curative abilities of my medicines were known to 
the fortunate few only that had the good fortune to live within 
the circuit of my practice. I will, however, as my friends may 
expect something of the kind, make bare mention of one of my 
inventions, or rather discoveries, I should better call it, that I 
had labeled, “ O’Monighan’s Herb and Root Bitters, Com- 
pounded from the purest Kentucky Whisky and Herb3 and 
Roots of Great Healing virtue.” 

This celebrated botanic compound, for so it was, and justly 
celebrated too, within the whole range of my practice, was the 
§ole remedy for all malarial complaints, and was, in short, the 
most popular invigorator of the day. I have seen my labeled 
bottles sitting alongside of the gold and silver toys and plates 
of the rich planters, and I have seen myBabeled bottles soot- 
* stained and empty, lying promiscuously among the culinary- 
wares of the slaves. What more can I say of my popular 
remedy? 

When I hid been on the plantation about two years, I nude 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD U 7 ARR 0 . 395 

Up my mind to return to the old homestead and pay my dear 
old father, Dennis O’Monighan, a visit. I had written regularly 
to my dear parent, and as regularly on Saturday every fortnight 
since 1 had been on the plantation, I would receive a letter 
bearing tender memories that would make me shed tears over 
my ambitious course, that stood as a wall between me and my 
dear parent. 

My father, I could always see as he got old from the tone of 
his letters, indulged the hope that I would some day loose my 
ambitious grasp on the world, and return and take charge of the 
homestead. And in accordance with his fatherly love and hope 
he would often write touching letters, offering me strong in- 
ducements if I would but return once more and take up my 
abode under the family tree. So my father had thus kept kind 
memories aglow in my mind, and I had matured my plans to 
take a brief respite from my professional labors, and go back 
and refresh my old father with my presence. Whilst at the 
same time I would rest my overworked brain and senses in such 
old time amusements and diversions as my old comrades would 
offer me. My mind hail become so well fixed on ray plan to 
visit that I would have midnight dreams of the many pleasant 
scenes that I was to enjoy all along the river Hudson. 

My father was living all alone, so far as the ties of kinsmen 
were concerned. lie was the father of other offspring besides 
me, but all his offspring died in infancy and before I was born. 
So I was his only surviving child. And now, in my ripe years, 
I can see that l might better remained with my father, and so 
made his fireside more cheerful. Bat there is no accounting for 
the felly and ambition of youth. 

As I was going on to remark, I was putting my house in 
shape to return, when to my great grief, the regular fortnight 
letter did not come to hand. And when a month was passed, 
no letter had come, I knew that all was not well. Waiting 
some weeks longer, daily expecting some kind of tidings, I at 
last received a letter draped in mourning 

This letter bore sad, mournful tidings sure enough. I: was 


PATRICK O’ MONJGHAN, OR 


jrf 

from one Dennis Moran, the executor of my father’s last will 
and testament. Moran wrote, saying that my dear old father 
was dead and buried, and that he was appointed by my father 
to dispose of his worldly effects, as he, Moran, thought best, 
and pay the expenses of the wake and funeral, and then remit 
the residue of the estate to me. 

This sad news put all thoughts of return entirely out of my 
head. I wrote to Dennis Moran advising him to sell the prop- 
erty, settle all my father’s honest debts, take out a liberal salary 
for himself, and then ship the residue of the estate to me. 

Alas, I say, to my legacy. I never from that day out heard 
of Dennis Moran again. But I afterwards found out that Moran 
sold the possessions that my father left behind him for spot cash, 
put the cash down in his pocket, and absconded for parts un- 
known, without as much as settling the expenses of my father’s 
wake and funeral. 

I afterwards cashed all honest, fair accounts that stood against 
my dear old father for his wake and funeral expenses. All other 
accounts I repudiated as not legitimate drafts upon my honor. 
For as soon as it was made known that I was well-to-do as a 
doctor in Louisiana, and had paid my father’s wake and funeral 
expenses without making any public ado about it, false leeches 
that claimed to be creditors of Dennis O’Monighan, my father, 
began to draw upon me on sight through the New York banks. 

I repudiated the whole batch of false accounts with contempt, 
giving them no place in my confidence, and that, too, without 
giving them the slightest investigation, und I am sure that no 
one will criticise me for rash and hasty conduct in the matter. 

I remained on the plantation till the Confederate war of Se- 
cession broke out. At that time I had acquired not only a good 
name, but considerable wealth, as well. 

About A. D. 1856, the local candidates began to respect my 
political opinions, and indeed they would seek me out and try 
to make a weather-cock of me in the political matters, so that 
by the time that the Confederate war broke out, I had involun- 
tarily drifted into the political arena, and found my opinions 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 

respected by a very vast majority of my follow citizens. I wa* 
spending a good deal of my time in discussing with mv neigh* 
bors the best means of amending and perfecting the laws of my 
beloved country. 


CHAPTER LI II. 

More about Patrick O’ Mon igh an — the Confederate Wa* 

— HIS FALSE IMPRISONMENT. 

H ! now I have come to the war. That sad, useless war. 



jTx. That most fruitless of all wars. The religious crusade 
against the slavery of the South, that was maintained for years, 
till the war of Secession broke out — the Confederate war of A. 
D. 1861, 

You will naturally enough imagine that I have some kind of 
a military record. So I have. I was of good standing in my 
profession ; possessed, too, of some wealth, and without wife or 
offspring to strengthen any stay-at-home proclivities that might 
smoulder in my breast. I had faith in the South ; I had faith 
in secession, so with the South I cast my lot. On the first of 
May, A. D. 1861, I started off to the seat of war. My rank was 
Surgeon. My regiment was composed of smiling boys of Louis- 
iana birth, ranging in age from fifteen to twenty years, perhaps 
none older but a few experienced officers. Joyous boys they 
were — of mirth and good will for all. Dear boys! They had 
hopes as bright as boys ever had. They could speak so hope- 
fully of their future victories on the field. But alas ! victory 
did not win the contest. Our northern enemies when beaten 
and foiled at every point, sure enough recoiled back to their 
northern hive and there renewed their numbers. They had an 
established government ; they had credit ; they could hire food 


328 


PATRICK O' MON JG KAN, OR 


for powder; it is always cheap. They hired the bucks of the 
African race at a thousand dollars a head and sent them down 
on our overtaxed resources. And after four years of war of this 
unequal strife ; when our fences were burned and our fields laid 
waste ; when our houses and barns were burned ; when our 
bridges were destroyed ; when all our domestic animals were 
either stolen or driven. away; when even our hen roosts were 
left without a tenant ; and in short, when we were left without 
either food or raiment, and in our despair we had lain down 
and closed our eyes to die of hunger and want, the northern 
colored hive swarmed about our hunger emaciated forms, shout- 
ing victory ! O, shame! Was that a victory? 

When I had served as Surgeon of my regiment two years, I 
was sent as an agent to Mexico to purchase medicines. And 
there I remained till the close of the war, shipping my purchas- 
es across the Rio Grande into the Southern Confederacy. I 
found spare time to turn my small stock of money to a good 
private account whilst working for my government. I specu- 
lated some in cotton and various articles of merchandise, and so 
increased my fortune by the addition of several thousand Span- 
ish dollars. These little speculations did not cool my ardor for 
war. No, but on the other hand my private gain rather stimu- 
lated my hope of victory, and kept me in good spirits. So 
strong was my faith in the Southern Confederacy that when 
Gen. R. E. Lee laid down his arms in despair I still held out, 
and hoped on. I wrote from Mexico to my companions in arms 
and urged them to struggle on. But when I was convinced that 
we were starved out and thus beaten, I made up my mind to re- 
turn to the city of New Orleans. So I took an overland route 
through Texas and Louisiana. 

I set out on the first of July, A. D. 1865. My reasons for 
returning overland were these. In the first place I could, as I 
traveled along by slow stages through the country, find out the 
state of public feeling among the vanquished soldiers of the 
Southern Confederacy. And, in the next place, by keeping 
away from all popular seaports I would avoid the sexutin 


329 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE 01' OLD UZARRO. 

izing eye of any detective that might be hired to protect the 
“old flag.” I left my money in Mexico — yes, in the earth of 
Mexico — when I set off for the city of New Orleans. I had 
buried my money, taking but a few hundred dollars to pay my 
way on the road. I wore the roughest kind of clothes and had 
allowed my beard and hair to grow to a prodigious length, so 
that I had but little of the resemblance of the one that a few 
f years before had been known as “the genteel Doctor O’Moni- 
ghan,” or as the “Botanic Doctor.” I entered the city of New 
Orleans about nightfall and made my way through the streets, 
with my carpet-bag in my hand. I thought I would saunter 
about the city awhile before I would take lodgings for the night. 
I might, as I thought, find some old friend of former days. My 
clothes were shabby and torn, and my face and hands were 
brown and weather-beaten, and, in short, I had all the marks of 
a veteran of the Confederate army, returning poverty stricken 
to his pilaged home. When I had come to a prominent corner 
in the center of the city, I stopped to look about me for a spell 
to witness the violent changes that the war had made. And 
looking down a street I saw a large mass of men, both white and 
black. They had met in the street and filled all the passages. 
The scene was well lighted for there were some two or three 
hundred lamps held in the hands of smiling freedmen. When 
I had witnessed the spectacle for a minute or two, I could see 
how it was. A missionary from the North had come to tell the 
darkies of their glorious future and what a glorious end they 
would all come to, and that they would all for their loyalty get 
an office of some rank and fortune. So I thought that there 
might be something of interest to me in the northern missiona- 
ries speech, and as it was not late in the night, and as I was anx- 
ious to learn the news I walked toward the orator, not think- 
ing that a man of my humble attire would attract any public 
attention. When I was within twenty paces of the outskirts of 
the crowd, I observed a sudden violent commotion up near the 
speaker’s stand, and cries of, “stand back and give him air,” 
and so on. And at this period the orator leaped down and left 


53 ® 


PATRICK O' M 0X1 G II A N, 0& 


his platform vacant. I had no time to take in the full peril of 
my situation ; I had no time to comprehend matters. In fact 
I seemed spell bound and charmed, as a bird would be charmed 
by a serpent, for there I stood and stared for a few seconds. 
The scene was changed in a few seconds, however, and I was 
made play a very prominent part, for a hundred faces were turn- 
ed on me and as many fingers were pointed at me, and cries of, 
‘‘There he is ! there he u ! catch him ! catch him !” and so the 
excited crowd went on at a great rate. I had no time to wheel 
and run for it, for some ten colored policemen ran up and nail- 
ed me to the very spot, as it were. I was hurried off to prison. 
The next day I found out the cause of my arrest. Some one 
standing back in a dark alley, no doubt, had thrown a rock mis- 
sile into the freedmen’s meeting. The rock in its random flight 
had hit a very prominent freedman on the head. The name of 
the injured freedman was Sandy Sykes. The rock bounced off 
but left an abrasion where the concussion took place. Sandy 
Sykes was a slave in Kentucky when the war broke out, and had 
served as cook for some Indiana officers. So as cook for the 
“old flag’' he had won his laurels of war. Sandy had saved a 
few hundred dollars of his veteran bounty before he came to the 
city of New Orleans, so that he was able to embark in business 
on his own account. His place of business was marked with a 
very significant sign. It was painted in very gaudy colors and 
could be seen from many points. The “ Union Saloon ’’ was 
the name of Sandy’s resort. The sign was a loyal sentiment 
within itself, and attracted a large share of the patronage of 
Union officers. 

When I was mistaken and arrested at the mass-meeting for 
the criminal that hit Sandy Sykes, my clothes of course were 
searched for circumstantial evidence of my previous antecedents. 

I had a hundred dollars or so in Spanish coins in my purse in 
my carpet bag. I had also in my carpet bag three revolvers of 
large calibre, a dirk, and two stones ol about one pound weight 
each. All these were weapons for my defense that I had to repel 
any attack that lawless brigands might choose to make on 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO . 


33 * 


me and my possessions, as I traveled overland to the city of 
New Orleans. 

But alas ! The source of the worst suspicions that were 
roused against me, was not in the circumstancial evidence that 
was found in my carpet bag. At least all suspicions of my pre- 
vious antecedents as found in my carpet-bag, were obscured and 
made little of, when what was supposed as a stronger circumstance 
was found. In all the evidence there was one overwhelming cir- 
cumstance that in the opinion of all the loyal people, yielded 
proof sufficient and ample of my previous pursuits. Inside of 
my waistcoat near my person, snugly concealed in a scabbard 
was my dear old keepsake that I had received from the parting 
hand of my dear old father when I set out for Mexico to unearth 
the lost estate of my ancient ancestor. It was my Arkansas 
hunting knife that I had carried with me through all the strife of 
war. And I had come to consider it as a charm that protected 
me from harm. When the Union officers and colored police 
read the memorial inscription, “ Wild Jake of the Woods ” that 
was inscribed up near the hilt, they stood aghast and at once put 
me down in the black list, as one of many murders and cruel 
deeds. 

Early the first morning of my imprisonment, the Union folks 
of all colors began to throng to the jail to take a look through 
the grating of my cell at me. And there they would stand two 
or three faces abreast and look in on me. They would comment 
on the villainous character of my face and eyes, and they would 
comment on the tell-tale lineaments of my countenance. And 
without the least regard for my feelings, they would inquire of 
each other if the manner of my execution had as yet been de- 
cided on. 

I could see little knots of men standing around in the street 
near the jail wearing grave, sad faces, commenting and regretting 
the great loss of Sandy Syke’s society, in the event that he 
should die. His services to the Union cause was spoken of with 
tearful eyes. And I heard one enthusiast exclaim, “ If Sandy 


332 


PATRICK O' MON IG II AN, OR 


Sykes should die, Louisiana will be set back- a quarter of a 
century.’ * . 

My dear old Arkansas hunting knife, on which was inscribed 
“Wild Jake of the Woods,” was put on exhibition at Sandy 
Syke’s place of business. 

The “ Union Saloon ’’ all next day after my arrest, as I 
could see from my cell in the jail, was crowded with ladies and 
gentlemen that sympathized with Sandy Sykes in his misfortune. 
They would go up to Sandy’s bar and talk to Sandy’s barkeeper 
of the worthy proprietor. And now and then assuage their 
grief in a glass of grog. 

Many of the ladies, I will say to their credit, visited the 
saloon to see my dear old keepsake, that their Union sentiments 
had construed as the instrument of my murderous warfare on 
loyal freedmen and their Union loving confederates. 

After my first day’s imprisonment, I gave up all hope. As 
the day wore to a close, I put all that I had heard together, and 
after summing up the whole evidence before me, I made up 
my mind that I would not live to see another day. I thought 
that I would be taken out soon after dark and swung up by the 
neck. I was a total stranger. I had no friends to testify of my 
previous antecedents. There I was in my innocence without a 
witness to prove my case. 

In a word, I was without hope. So I lay in my cell as the 
dark hours of my second night in jail wore away, thinking of 
whatever was dear to me on earth. 

Some two hours after midnight, as I lay throbbing on the 
floor of the cell, I was startled almost out of all consciousness 
by loud whisperings at the keyhole of my cell door. I listened 
and boiled with excitement. “Sure'y this is a dream,” thought 
I. But I soon discovered that the whisperings were as they 
seemed, fer I could distinctly hear some one at the keyhole of 
my cell calling to me in a loud.-whisper, “ Pat ! Pat 1 Pat !” 

I at once put my ear to the keyhole and made my presence 
known ; and the minister of my salvation whispered to me i 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF OLD UZARRO. 333 

“ I will unlock the cell door. The outside door is unlocked. 
Then you must heel it.” 

Cautiously the bolt was turned, and the door swung open; 
I stepped when out of the cell to whisper my-joyous thanks to 
the being that had loosed my shackels. But my liberator gently 
pushed me and said : 

“ Be gone !” 

It was pitch dark. I could see nothing but the silent pall 
of darkness, as I groped my way to the outside door. Who, or 
what liberated me, I never found out. May be, some Union 
officer sympathized with me, or some police officer took com- 
passion on me, or, some would think, that it was the one that 
hurled the stone that hit Sandy Sykes, seeing that he was guilty 
and I innocent, unloosed me. But as for my part it was always 
an unsolved mystery to me, I don’t know. -I venture no opin- 
ion of my own. Perhaps it was an angel from above that turned 
the bolt. 

I made my way back to Mexico where my hidden coins were 
buried. The loss of my carpet bag and contents did not worry 
me a great deal, not half so much as the loss of my dear old 
keepsake, on which was inscribed the affecting memorial, “ Wild 
Jake of the Woods.” I afterwards learned that my dear old keep- 
sake was sent to the Government at Washington, as a specimen 
of the murderous weapons used by the lawless banditti in 
Louisiana. 

After my unfortunate mission to New Orleans, I gave up all 
thought of returning to any of the old States to engage in po* 
litical undertakings and thus'tiy to fulfill any of -my old political 
longings for power. 

Had no misfortune overtaken me when I first visited New 
Orleans, I am inclined now to believe, that I would have wheeled 
into line once more, and so professed my loyalty afresh for the 
“ old flag.” I would of course, had they but let me alone, have 
taken an oath of loyalty, and sworn that the victors were right. 
That is, I. would have sworn that I had full faith in all the abo- 
lition preachers of New England. I would have sworn that all 


*34 


PATRICK O'MOAIGHAK, OJt 


their prophesies had been fulfilled. I would also have sworn 


that I had full faith in the success of the African race, that the 


Africans could excel the white race in all that pertained to a 
better civilization. All this, I say, I would, or at least might 
have done, had my first visit to New Orleans after the war, been 
more pleasant and cheerful. 


CHAPTER LIV; 

Mori about Patrick O’Monighan — His way of Life — His 
Unpublished Manuscripts — His Buried Vault. 



AV 1 NG mentioned a few of the way-side events of my 


A 1 life, I will here close my story. As I have hinted that I 
would sometime give my written biography to the world, you 
will perhaps think it a strange freak of mine to withhold from 
the world this literary essay that describes my life so minutely. 
Incidentally, of course, it gives the character and doings of 
many other ingenious men that have had no biographer before me. 
I call my essay on the workings of my life, “ The Memoirs of 
Patrick O’Monighan.” These memoirs I intend shall remain 
in their manuscript form till I have passed from earthly scenes. 
Then, and not till then, shall they go to the publisher. 

I am living a quiet, serene life, unknown to the world, and 
I desire that my rest shall not be disturbed. Let my fame be 
posthumous. Since my political ambition was so frightfully 
soured by false imprisonment, any advise that I should return to 
society, and engage in politics and literature, would be received 
as wormwood and gall. No ! I have had enough of the world. 
I will have no more of it. 

'When I escaped from the jail in the city of New Orleans, I 
began business as a drover in Weste rn Texas. I was quite suc- 
cessful as a dealer in sheep, oxen and horses, and in A. D. 1869, 


THE HIDDEN TREASURE OR OLD UZARRO. m 

I invested some of my capital in mining stocks. The investment 
was a good one. So well, in fact, did it yield, that I gave up 
the business of drover. During my live-stock speculations, I fre- 
quently drove my stock to the Territories of the West ; especial- 
ly to Montana and Idaho. It was there that I was successful in 
my mining: speculations. I made no great amount of money in 
my operations in live stocks and mining stocks, but I had enough 
to do me ; I had two hundred thousand dollars in gold coins. 

With this pile I retired. I don’t mean to say. that I retired 
to an isolated house, convenient to a beer garden, with the 
intent to while away the remainder of my life in drinking beef 
and smoking my pipe. No ! I mean nothing of the kind. But 
I retired from the rough elements of society that I had to deal 
with when drover and mining stock speculator. 

I take my ease in this way : I travel about from one place to 
another, staying but a few months in a place* For instance, I 
will go to the city of New York, and stay there a few months ; then 
to Philadelphia, then to Montreal, then to some popular watering 
place, and away I will again put for some cool retreat in the 
mountains. Wherever I go, I spend a day or two in going about 
to please my fancy, and then I take to my room and devote 
myself to my literary enterprises. And I find that this way of 
living is well suited to my literary undertakings ; for I am able 
to do a prodigious deal of literary labor without any bad effect 
on my health. 

The literary works that I have now in manuscript form, I 
call “ The Memoirs of Patrick O’Monighan.” This one I have 
before mentined. My # next literary work in order of completion 
I call “ The Rape of A. D. 1861.” This is a work that gives 
the only true history of the war of the Rebellion of A. D. 1861. 
My last work is called ‘'The Conspiracy of Ten.” This is a 
work pertaining to the late war also, and is the unveiling of a 
dark plot of ten leading politicians in the North, whereby the 
late war was brought on. 

All these works I have in manuscript form, in which state 
they shall remain till, as I have said, I am no more. Then they 


33 <* 


PATICK O'MONIGHAN. OR 


will be published to the world. I have all the money that I 
want. I am more than fifty years old. And the giddy pinna- 
cles of fame to which my youth was devoted, long ago fell and 
buried me in the ruins. So I no longer subserve any ambitious 
hopes to be seen and admired by a gaping, ignorant world. I * 
detest the world. I have no need of money. Therefore, no 
need of selling my manuscripts to buy bread ; so let them be 
kept in the dark. 

It is curious to see how the people regard me, as I travel 
about from place to place. It is true that lam not noticed at all, 
at some of the hotels. This is as I like it. But at some of the 
hotels where I am a frequent guest, I am eyed with curiosity, 
and I may add, with suspicion. I tell my vocation to no one, 
and I am glad to say, pass as a man of common wits, and 
thought by most of men to be a peddler of fancy trinkets. 

I had a metalic vault made for my gold. Into this I put my 
coins and buried it. I go once a year to my vault and take out 
enough coins to serve me for one year ; then I fill up the grave, 
and go there no more till another year rolls around and my purse 
is empty. 

I have forestalled for any sudden emergency that might hap- 
pen. I have made my last will and testament, and placed it in 
proper hands. I have bequeathed my buried vault and all its 
contents, and all my unpublished manuscripts to a charitable 
institution that is devoted to the training of the offspring of poor 
parents. Having settled my affairs, so far as my hold on the 
personal property of the world goes, 1 am as well prepared as 
the average man to quit the world in peace. 





















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